…an exhibition that reinforces the link between Christian Dior, the eternal friend to artists, and Art. After the Grand Palais, the stunning exhibition of Miss Dior arrives in Shanghai, China, where it was festively opened on 19 June at the Shanghai Sculpture Space.

The House of Dior is celebrating the history of Miss Dior, its first fragrance created by Monsieur Christian Dior in 1947, with an exhibition exploring the French luxury label’s intimate connection to the world of art, setting to reinforce the link between Dior to artists, and Art. Miss Dior has been the House’s first perfume, and it is an icon. For Christian Dior, the perfume was an ode to the joy of living once more after the deprivation of the war, an invitation to embrace lightness, insouciance, love and beauty. The magic that the House of Dior continues to symbolize today is this magic that the Miss Dior exhibition seeks to share; it also shows how the Miss Dior perfume has inspired works by 16 contemporary women artists, giving them an opportunity to offer their own interpretations of the fragrance emblematic features, paying homage to one of the greatest couturiers of all time and, at the same time, to the subversive spirit of perfume which has taken its place in history. The artists come from different nationalities, and they responded to Dior’s challenge laid at their doors in what seems to be 16 various, fascinating ways. The Portuguese Joana Vasconcelos, for instance, created an enormous red-golden bow, filled and trespassed by thousands of illuminated flasks of the famous J’Adore perfume; inspired by the perfume’s gift box, the American Polly Abfelbaum created a hand-woven Mexican carpet to which she added the houndstooth iconic motif that graces the Miss Dior packaging. In other works, the cannage motif, the rose, the adverts by René Gruau, and Tim Walker’s portrait of Natalie Portman give way to new and original interpretations.