On 3 June 2016, the new Dior boutique will open its doors on London’s famous New Bond Street. Spread over four floors, it will be the largest Dior store in the United Kingdom, and will showcase the women’s and men’s universes, leather accessories, jewellery, timepieces, the children’s collections and Baby Dior, with the exclusive addition of the first Dior home collection devoted to homewares and elegant art de vivre. To mark the occasion, Dior will also unveil a limited-edition selection of iconic Lady Dior bags and small leather accessories as reinterpreted by the artist Marc Quinn.

To reinvent the collection of Lady Dior bags, the House collaborated with London-born artist Marc Quinn. A renowned figure in the world of contemporary art, the artist transposes his vivid, hyper-realist oil paintings to Dior creations. He has invented models with, on one side, a floral print drawn from his oeuvre and, on the other side, the same motif with the colours reversed. From his series ‘In the Night Garden’, violet, white or black orchids bloom against a backdrop of snow or volcanic earth, creating a dramatic, artificial landscape. The artist also offers a Lady Dior ‘Fossil Record’ bag – a flower relief embossed into silver leather. The motifs depict flowers eternally frozen at the point of full bloom, belying a sinister subtext: the relentless desire of man to control nature.

In this way the Lady Dior and small leather accessories are transformed into artworks through which the artist questions man and his relationship with nature as untameable beauty. On another model, a bright blue iris from the series ‘We Share Our Chemistry with the Stars’ catches and captivates the eye.

Marc Quinn has also designed clutches and wallets to match the Lady Dior bags to complete this limited-edition collection. With this unique collaboration, the House writes a new page in the story of the profound and sincere ties it has always enjoyed with the world of art.