17 artists & designers reimagine the iconic dior medallion chair

CREATIVES BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO DIOR’S ICONIC MEDALLION CHAIR

on the occasion of milan design week 2021, dior maison has invited seventeen artists to reinterpret one of its iconic emblems — the medallion chair. the chair, which is a symbol of louis XVI style, was first embraced by dior himself in 1947 who used it to seat guests at his fashion shows. in his memories, he described it as ‘sober, simple, and above all classic and parisian.’

today, sam baron, nacho carbonell, pierre charpin, dimorestudio, khaled el mays, martino gamper, constance guisset, india mahdavi, nendo, joy de rohan chabot, linde freya tangelder, atang tshikare, seungjin yang, ma yansong, jinyeong yeon, tokujin yoshioka and pierre yovanovitch offer their visions and artistic and cultural sensibilities and reimagine this object of desire with boundless creativity.

dimorestudio
image courtesy of dior

PART OF DIOR’S WORLD SINCE 1946

when fashion house dior set up its first boutique on 30 avenue montaigne in paris, 1946, it was characterized by simple and modern interiors but with classical features.

founder christian dior believed essential french aesthetics resided in the palace of versailles, and adored especially the oval-backed medallion chair said to have been used by louis the 16th, featuring it frequently in boutiques and fashion shows. the chair became an icon of the maison, later appearing as a visual element for perfume bottles and advertisements.

india mahdavi
image © designboom

AN UNPRECEDENTED COLLABORATION THAT REFLECTS DIOR’S TIMELESSNESS

for the milan presentation, dior asked the creatives to showcase new works inspired by the medallion chair. the brief asked for a reinterpretation of the classical chair using state-of-the-art technology, following the principles monsieur dior described in his memoir. the unprecedented collaboration aims to showcase a reflection of the house’s timeless modernity that is able to reinvent the dior dream and perpetuate it in time.

exhibition view
image courtesy of dior

designboom visited the exhibition at milan’s palazzo citterio.

on his design, japanese designer tokujin yoshioka told designboom, ‘what came to my mind was to make a chair out of layers of light. from there, I thought about creating a historic yet futuristic chair using transparent resin, which is the material closest to light. the beauty of nature is expressed by randomly stacking 364 transparent resin plates to form a chair.’

dimorestudio