STORY OF THE DECADE

The French house of Dior was thinking long-term before the rest of fashion even caught up. Cue its Dior Lady Art series: an annual project that represents the bag it gets its name from, the Lady Dior, through the eyes of acclaimed artists from around the world. This year marks its 10th edition — proof that the endurance of an icon doesn't lie in hype drops, but in cultural exchange and creative freedom. Keng Yang Shuen takes a closer look at this milestone collection.

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We all know the Lady Dior story: First created in 1995 and famously named after the late Diana, Princess of Wales, it is to many in the fashion world a design legend. Its structured silhouette, cannage pattern and delicate charms have made it instantly recognisable and an early forerunner among It bags. So here's the question: How does one reinvent an icon?

Dior's answer arrived in 2016 with the Dior Lady Art initiative (let's call it DLA for short): a yearly invitation for artists to take the Lady Dior and remake it entirely on their own terms. Before every brand was chasing “artist capsules” for TikTok virality, Dior was quietly building realness: a long-running partnership model that treats artists as equals, giving them full creative freedom and the opportunity to have an open dialogue with its atelier.

This is why this year’s edition matters: It's the 10th – a rare example of a collaboration series that has both longevity and integrity. At a moment when luxury is shifting away from loud logos and turning its focus instead to craft, storytelling and cultural cachet, DLA feels less like a marketing project and more like a living archive that tracks how an icon can evolve without losing its soul.

This milestone edition, its pieces available in limited quantities in Dior stores now, is extra major. Ten artists from around the world – Jessica Cannon, Patrick Eugene, Eva Jospin, Ju Ting, Lakwena Maciver, Lee Ufan, Sophia Loeb, Ines Longevial, Marc Quinn and Alymamah Rashed – have been roped in to reinterpret the Lady Dior through their own visual universes, which span sculpture, minimalism, digital culture, textile craft and more.