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The idea that fashion is art — and vice versa — has been debated for eons. Some designers and visionaries will tell you fashion is made to be used, to function, thus disqualifying it from being art. And some will tell you that fashion is wearable art. No matter which side you fall on, you can always win an argument by settling on the fact that (most) fashion is meant to be digested (and enjoyed) on a cerebral level. And it's a conversation Dior's artistic director Maria Grazia Chiuri is tackling with the French fashion house's latest art project: Dior Lady Art #3.
Everybody knows the Lady Dior bag, right? Well, it's one of the most iconic handbags ever, thanks in part to noted carrier Princess Diana, and was designed in 1995 during the gap year between Gianfranco Ferré and John Galliano's tenures. For the third time, Dior has collaborated with a team of artists to put their own spins on the luxurious tote. But for the first time, Chiuri and company have compiled a female-only cast of 11 artists from all over the world to interpret the bag: Olga De Amaral of Colombia, Polly Apfelbaum of the U.S., Burçak Bingöl of Turkey, Lee Bul of Korea, Isabelle Cornaro of France, and others. The bags make their global debut at Art Basel in Miami this week.
In the slideshow ahead, you'll see the legendary Lady Dior bag redesigned using dozens of different mediums: metal, plastic, gold chains, cotton, fur, embroidery, ropes, and so much more. The bags will be produced in limited edition quantities. and are currently exclusively available for purchase at the Miami Design District boutique, should you catch yourself in the Sunshine State anytime soon. But, come January 2019, they'll be available at select boutiques across North America and around the world.
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