The Lady Dior bag revisited by the Malagasy artist Joël Andrianomearisoa
The luxury house Dior called on the Malagasy visual artist to make his own version of the bag that owes its name to the late Lady Di.
For five years, Dior has called on artists from all walks of life to reinterpret one of its iconic bags: the Lady Dior. The latter, which uses the graphic codes of the luxury house, owes its name to the former Princess of Wales Diana Spencer, better known as Lady Di, and was offered to her during a visit to Paris in 1995.
This year, ten artists from Africa, India, the United States and Europe were called upon. Among them, the Malagasy artist Joël Andrianomearisoa who, in 2019, was contacted by Dior to make his own version of the bag – and who, for this occasion, took the name of Lady Dior Art.
To ReadDior and Uniwax, the story of an unprecedented collaboration“It is always very surprising to receive this type of invitation. At first, I didn't really know how to approach the thing, ”admits the visual artist to Jeune Afrique. I then issued a condition. I needed to know all the history of this object, its “recipe”. I understood that it was steeped in history and that I was about to tackle a monument. I didn't want to destroy it or transform it, but to give it a mysterious side. »
"The labyrinth of Lady Dior"
Joël Andrianomearisoa then offers his own "recipe": he works the entire "environment" of Lady Dior Art, from its lining to its packaging.
“I created two versions of the object that I call “Labyrinth of Lady Dior”. The medium model is a very sculptural version with blades of leather, water-cut, glued and interwoven. The entire metallic aspect of the bag has been coated with black paint. I redesigned the logo and inserted it into the lines. As for the small model, it is worked with small blades of a rather rigid, not very fluid silk. The interior is in embroidered leather and the chain is drawn. »
Inside the bag, unveiled last November, there is also a kind of little book, a logbook in which the Malagasy artist drew, told about Paris, Madagascar, his native country, with some handwritten texts . The artist even offered the recipe for a mille-feuille, a dessert he loves. Color of both bags: black. Their material: leather and silk. The packaging also gives pride of place to silk and screen printing.
Hybrid
“I wanted to create a story that feels like phantasmagoria. As in my work, I didn't want to propose a stopped work, a solution. I wanted the woman carrying the bag to be the second medium, the person who reveals the work. It is a hybrid object, which leads to a new adventure and reinforces the idea of a plot. »
At LireAlpha Dia, the model who fights in Dakar against the coronavirusIn addition to Joël Andrianomearisoa, another artist from the continent has also been called upon this year: the South African Chris Soal. Where and at what price will this limited edition bag be offered? Mystery. “We do not communicate on this point,” Dior told JA. But, according to our information, these bags, whose marketing should start at the beginning of 2021, will be published up to 100 copies each with prices going up to more than 25,000 euros (when the original Lady Dior is worth between 3,000 and more than €4,000).
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