In 1995, Bernadette Chirac wished to give the Princess of Wales a unique handbag on the occasion of her visit to Paris. When France's first lady contacted Dior in her search for such a bag, the House offered her a model unofficially named Chouchou at the time. It was officially rechristened Princesse in the short term. The bag, black in color, was presented to the former Lady Diana at the inauguration of the Cézanne exhibition at the Grand Palais. It was often photographed carried by Diana at public events: she had it with her in Birmingham during an official visit; again a few weeks later during a stay in Argentina; then on several further occasions. It was soon being described as "iconic", and "legendary", and was launched in larger series, with its name changed to Lady Dior. Two hundred thousand models were sold in two years and Dior's leather goods turnover increased tenfold. The bag in turn gave its name to a watch in 1999 and inspired a makeup product by Parfums Christian Dior.
Characteristics
Lady Dior is a handbag that adopts Dior's graphic codes and is generally decorated with a cannage motif inspired by two items of furniture found in Dior's private mansion on Avenue Montaigne since 19473: the Napoléon III chairs on which the couturier seated the guests at his runway shows, and the back of a neo-Louis XVI medallion armchair Louis XV. The bag is composed ofone hundred and forty four pieces in total and is rectangular and rigid, with the four gold- or silver-tone D-I-O-R letters and the Dior logo suspended from the handle as charms. It is available in different materials featuring various techniques, and in several sizes.
Advertising
Chosen by designer John Galliano, French actress Marion Cotillard became the face of Lady Dior in 2008, a role she played until 2017. In addition to multiple publications in the press photos by Peter Lindbergh, Craig McDean, Tim Walker and Jean-Baptiste Mondino, Marion Cotillard has appeared in several short film commercials mainly intended to be released on the internet. The first was The Lady Noire Affair made by Olivier Dahan, followed by Lady Rouge by Jonas Åkerlund. The latter followed a series of photos by Annie Leibovitz. Next came Lady Blue Shanghai, a sixteen-minute film by David Lynch. Two more films, Lady Grey London, with Ian McKellen, and L.A.dy Dior were made by John Cameron Mitchell. The actress recalled,"I suggested this director to Dior. They didn't know him, but they haven't wanted to let him go since!" The CEO of Christian Dior Couture, Sidney Toledano, has said of these short films that the "strategic objective is to make people dream by telling beautiful stories". In 2012, Cotillard starred in the web-series Lady Dior Web Documentary and wrote and performed the song "Lily's body" for one episode. She also designed her own handbag for Lady Dior, the "360° bag". In 2014, Cotillard wrote and co-directed alongside Eliott Bliss, a music video for her song "Snapshot in LA", especially for Lady Dior's campaign "Enter The Game – Dior Cuise 2015".
Exhibition
Organized by Dior, a touring exhibition six years in the making and entitled Lady Dior As Seen By traveled to China, Japan, Italy, and Brazil from 2012 onwards. It presented over a hundred works by photographers – the likes of Patrick Demarchelier, Bruce Weber and Ellen Von Unwerth – visual artists, sculptors, designers and painters, all inspired by the Lady Dior bag.
