Everyone knows this one: the Lady Dior. A boxy, quilted leather bag adorned with signature metallic charms that spell out D-I-O-R. But this time, the house’s iconic creation is reborn—transformed into a one-of-a-kind canvas by some of the world’s most visionary artists.
Since 2016, Dior’s Lady Art project has invited artists from around the world to reimagine the Maison’s beloved handbag and add their unique and creative signatures. Now in its ninth edition, the project enlists 11 artists from South Korea, China, France—and beyond, with each artist contributing a distinct perspective that challenges the conventions of artistic expression.
Sara Flores
Sara Flores’ work is a mesmerising tribute to the rich cultural heritage of the Shipibo-Conibo people, whose intricate Kené patterns have long captured the essence of the Amazon’s interconnected beauty. Deeply rooted in ancestral tradition yet undeniably modern in execution, her art unfolds in hypnotic labyrinths—visual maps of an ecosystem where everything is linked.
Drawing from the plant-based pigments of her paintings, Flores has imagined pieces for Lady Dior Art where embroidery and embellishment create a meditative experience. Both bags feature a sinuous, embroidered serpentine motif—a symbol of spiritual healing, guiding the eye along its rhythmic path.
Jeffrey Gibson
Jeffrey Gibson mastery of fusion comes from melding traditional Native American craftsmanship with an almost psychedelic aesthetic. As a true multidisciplinary artist, he works across painting, sculpture, textiles, and video, creating pieces that don’t just speak but sing—layering contemporary slogans and song lyrics into vibrant narratives that honour the overlooked and the marginalised.
For this project, Gibson transforms the Lady Dior into a striking, pop-inspired statement of love. Drawing from his signature punching bag installations—objects once made for strength, now reimagined as art—he bridges the worlds of sport and fashion. One side of the bag dazzles with an all-over beaded inscription: love, love, love. The other is sewn with 3D-printed heart-shaped padlocks, a nod to the romantic locks left on Parisian bridges.
Woo Kukwon
Woo Kukwon’s artistic world is whimsical and full of wonder–where fairy tales take on new life through vivid oil paintings, intricate drawings, and immersive installations. Born in South Korea, his work revels in the fine line between fantasy and reality—infusing everyday scenes with a mischievous, almost childlike charm.
Two medium-sized designs pay homage to his wife, daughter, and beloved dog, casting them in enchanting settings: one beneath a star-lit sky, where delicate threads weave a celestial tapestry around the words ‘My Universe’, a touching tribute to his little girl; the other beneath the soft bloom of cherry blossoms, their floral splendour spilling onto the handles and hardware in exquisite detail. A third iteration takes a more ironic turn, featuring an intricately embroidered polar bear alongside the words ‘Killing Me Softly’, a striking commentary on the blurred boundaries between truth and illusion. A mini version dazzles with cascades of orange, blue, red, and white pearls, mimicking the texture of fur, while an even smaller micro bag gleams with a constellation of black beads, a striking contrast to the Christian Dior signature.
Danielle McKinney
Danielle McKinney, the Montgomery-born artist known for her evocative, cinematic portraits, brings her intimate world to life in a striking interpretation of the Lady Dior bag. Her work, steeped in rich tones and masterful contrasts, captures the unspoken moments of a woman’s inner life—private reveries unfolding in carefully composed domestic settings.
For this reimagining of the iconic handbag, McKinney’s signature protagonist—a contemplative female figure—emerges with exquisite detail, embroidered by hand. The bag’s fabric, with its subtly crumpled texture, echoes the tactile quality of her painted canvases. A butterfly, symbolising creativity and transformation, gently rests within the scene, while another flutters at the handle, reinforcing the dreamlike quality of her vision. Accents of vivid red punctuate the composition, highlighting a sense of both drama and refinement, while intricate embellishments lend an air of opulence.
Duy Anh Nhan Duc
For Vietnamese-born, Paris-based artist, Duy Anh Nhan Duc, nature isn’t just an inspiration—it’s the very foundation of his work. Known for his poetic botanical installations, he transforms delicate elements like dandelions, wheat, and thistles into intricate, ephemeral art, inviting us to see the natural world with fresh eyes.
For this project, he brings this deep connection to life by crafting from entirely vegan leather. The bag is embossed with lush floral motifs and embellished with a trellis-like structure. Sculpted gilded branches, twigs, and leaves wrap around its form, each detail revealing the artist’s meticulous craftsmanship. And for a final, mystical touch, a golden vine curls around the handle, cradling a single dandelion encased in resin, a signature piece that could also be a secret talisman.
Hayal Pozanti
Hayal Pozanti’s work is a celebration of form, movement, and the essence of existence. With her signature blend of lush, organic shapes and dreamlike hues, she conjures abstract landscapes and portraits that explore our often unspoken connection to life itself. Both cerebral and deeply emotive, her art is a meditation on human intelligence, inviting the viewer into a world that is all at once imagined yet undeniably real.
For Dior Lady Art, Pozanti brings her phantasmagorical vision to three exquisite interpretations of the Lady Dior bag. Two of her creations take inspiration from her love of trekking, incorporating tactile elements drawn from the wilderness: plush sheepskin panels, an homage to hiking boot linings; utilitarian snap hooks; and star-tipped metal feet that echo the base of a walking pole. The iconic D-I-O-R charms are reimagined in a cryptic, hieroglyphic-inspired alphabet, adding a layer of mystery. The third piece—a hand-painted clutch—becomes a celestial dreamscape. Inside, mirrored panels line the interior, offering a moment of reflection—both literal and symbolic.
Faith Ringgold
A defining voice of the Harlem Renaissance, Faith Ringgold was a trailblazer in feminist art and the civil rights movement, weaving narratives of resistance and empowerment into her groundbreaking work. Her compositions explored gender, race, and social justice through a rich interplay of colour, text, and textiles. Her dialogue with Maria Grazia Chiuri, which first took shape in 2022, continued into the Autumn-Winter 2024-2025 haute couture collection—a celebration of her radical vision and unwavering activism.
For Dior Lady Art, Ringgold had envisioned six extraordinary reinterpretations of the Lady Dior bag before her passing in April 2024, each carrying the weight of her legacy. Two designs, emblazoned with the powerful mantra ‘Freedom Woman Now’, shimmer in a striking montage of metallic textures, while her Windows of the Wedding series is reimagined in meticulous beadwork, adorning both an intricately embroidered edition and the delicate charms of another. A posthumous tribute to her fearless creativity, this collection is more than fashion—it is a testament to Ringgold’s enduring fight for justice, storytelling, and artistic defiance.
Vaughn Spann
Vaughn Spann, the New Jersey-based artist known for his fusion of abstract and figurative style brings his distinctive vision to the Lady Dior. His work often explores the themes of African American history, culture, and identity—many of them with vivid hues.
For Lady Art #9, Spann plays with contrasts—masculine and feminine, structure and fluidity—while staying true to his signature signs. One standout piece, an oversized version of the bag, is his tribute to power-dressing briefcases of the 80s, reimagined in pink-tinged transparency and marked with his recurring “X” motif. Another is layered with geometric forms drawn from his paintings, while the final two transform his 2020 works Firestorm and Untitled (Stormy)into striking, textured, almost playful reimaginings of the classic handbag.
Anna Weyant
Anna Weyant’s world is one of contrasts. The Calgary-born artist pulls from the Dutch masters as much as contemporary pop culture, creating figurative works with surrealism, nostalgia, and a little sense of unease. Her paintings, often caught between light and shadow, challenge social conventions and the complexities of femininity with a mix of melancholy and wit.
Weyant channels this distinctive vision where one version echoes the wood grain textures that frequently appear in her paintings, while another—entirely gilded—sees the roses and daisies from her work blooms into sculpted, jewel-like embellishments across the bag’s upper half. In a third iteration, Dior’s signature Cannage pattern is reimagined, delicately scattered with daisy motifs.
Liang Yuanwei
Liang Yuanwei’s work is a study of patience and precision, where textured layers and intricate patterns transform everyday moments into something timeless. The Chinese artist, known for her meticulous canvases, mixes tradition with innovation by using floral motifs and repetition to craft her visual language.
Drawing inspiration from her ‘Golden Notes’ series, Liang reinterpreted the Lady Dior through a bold, sculptural take on the Lady Dior. Crafted in resin using 3D printing, the bag becomes a canvas for a tactile masterpiece, covered in delicate, touchable flowers with crackled ceramics that show the beauty of Song dynasty vases. She uses lush shades of green—an ode to nature—and finishes with antique gold accents reminiscent of Ru ware. She also adds jade-inspired handles and a shoulder strap.
Huang Yuxing
Beijing-born Huang Yuxing is a visionary artist in the contemporary scene and has built a world where colour, movement, and storytelling intertwine. He is celebrated for paintings that capture the very essence of their creation—where every brushstroke is an invitation into his process. With contrasts and a luminous palette reminiscent of the traditional Gongbi technique, his work oscillates between reality and fantasy.
For the Dior Lady Art, this mesmerising universe takes shape across four extraordinary interpretations of the Lady Dior bag. Two medium-sized designs channel the psychedelic spirit of Heaven and Earth, bathed in fiery orange to evoke daylight and deep midnight blue for the mystery of night, each adorned with golden flourishes that nod to the refinement of Chinese goldsmithing. A smaller edition ventures further into the unknown, its intricate drawings conjuring a near-futuristic realm.
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