The Dior Medallion Chair

IL PALAZZO CITTERIO - MILAN
SEPTEMBER 5TH - 10TH 2021

DIOR MAISON INVITED SEVENTEEN ARTISTS TO REINTERPRET ONE OF ITS ICONIC EMBLEMS: THE MEDALLION CHAIR. A SYMBOL OF LOUIS XVI STYLE THAT CHRISTIAN DIOR CHOSE AS SOON AS HE FOUNDED HIS HOUSE, IN ORDER TO SEAT GUESTS AT HIS FASHION SHOWS IN A “SOBER, SIMPLE AND ABOVE ALL CLASSIC AND PARISIAN” DÉCOR, AS HE RECOUNTED IN HIS MEMOIRS. THE ESSENTIAL OVAL SURMOUNTED BY A FONTANGES BOW BECAME ONE OF THE MAJOR CODES OF 30 AVENUE MONTAIGNE, THE BEATING HEART OF DIOR. FEMININE AND SENSUAL, IT PUNCTUATED, IN BLACK AND GOLD, OR PINK AND GRAY, THE BOTTLES AND COFFRETS OF THE HOUSE’S LEGENDARY FIRST PERFUMES (FROM DIORAMA TO DIORISSIMO) AS WELL AS IN-STORE DÉCOR, STARTING WITH “COLFICHETS” – THE FIRST DIOR BOUTIQUE, INAUGURATED BY THE FOUNDING COUTURIER IN 1947, WHERE MEDALLION CHAIRS WERE ELEGANTLY CLAD IN CANNAGE AND TOILE DE JOUY. TODAY, THE HOUSE’S GUEST DESIGNERS OFFER THEIR VISIONS AND ARTISTIC AND CULTURAL SENSIBILITIES – FROM JAPAN TO ITALY BY WAY OF KOREA, LEBANON AND FRANCE – TO RECONCEIVE THIS OBJECT OF DESIRE WITH BOUNDLESS CREATIVITY. AMONG THE MOST INFLUENTIAL IN THE WORLD, THESE ARTISTS HAVE EXHIBITED IN PRESTIGIOUS MUSEUMS INCLUDING THE MOMA IN NEW YORK, THE MAD IN PARIS AND THE V&A IN LONDON. AN UNPRECEDENTED AND PLURALISTIC COLLABORATION, A REFLECTION OF THE HOUSE’S TIMELESS MODERNITY THAT REINVENTS THE DIOR DREAM AND LETS IT LIVE ON.

FOR DIOR, GAMPER HAS ONCE AGAIN REWORKED THIS ESSENTIAL OBJECT, SIMPLIFYING ITS LINES WHILE PRESERVING THE UNIQUE ALLURE OF THE MEDALLION. HIS REINTERPRETATIONS ARE THE RESULT OF A COMBINATION OF COLOURS AND FABRICS – AND OFFER A REFINED AND CONTEMPORARY VISION OF CHAIRS, THESE "FUNCTIONAL, ELEGANT AND TIMELESS WITNESSES."