More than seventy years since its founding, the house that Christian Dior built has its signatures: the soft grays, the caning pattern used in rattan objects, an obsession with flowers (particularly roses). With such calling cards identified with the brand, it’s difficult to imagine its home line looking anything but Parisian, and anything but ladylike. But think again. Now, with a new capsule collection by Dimore Studio’s Britt Moran and Emiliano Salci, Dior has a fresh look.
The beloved Milanese duo—known for mixing modern with traditional—mined the fashion house’s archives for inspiration. The resulting 14-piece collection has an opulent, individual look. “One of the things we wanted to focus on was reinterpreting the thatched cannage and accents of gold,” says Moran, “as well as the idea of Mr. Dior as a collector of Cubism and Surrealism.”
The pieces are eclectic in both scale and utility, and include a cane umbrella stand, satin-finish stainless steel place settings, thatched-cane vases, and a cigarette lighter and ashtray in powder-gray Plexiglas. “Although we thought about the project as if we were creating a very luxurious Dior flea market,” says Moran, “we wanted to make it very contemporary, and the shapes very pure. It’s about the juxtaposition of things that are reminiscent of Mr. Dior’s feminine work with a more modernist approach.”
Dimore produced the collection in Italy with the craftsmen it uses for its own projects so that it could mix materials in unusual ways, such as combining caning and metalwork. “It’s so nice when houses are open to collaboration, exposing us to their DNA but courageous enough to allow us to reinterpret things,” says Moran. “These pieces are Dior through our eyes.”
To shop: Dior; 800-929-3467.
