On Sept. 2, Dior unveiled the Lady Dior Celebration exhibition at its concept store Dior Seongsu in Seoul, along with an exclusive invitation to Ewha students in recognition of their partnership established in 2022 that has since fostered financial and mentoring support. To celebrate the timeless fashion icon handbag, Lady Dior, and the label’s bond with South Korea, the exhibition showcased three different sections of artwork.
The first section upon entering the exhibition was Dior Lady Art, featuring renowned South Korean artists such as Gigisue and Jia Lee who reinterpreted Lady Dior in their own unique designs. Following the line-up was Lady Dior As Seen By, an international traveling exhibition where the handbag was reimagined through contemporary artworks that varied from photographs to sculptures by worldwide artists. At the center of the exhibition, there was “Cella,” a 16-feet structure of crystal and aluminum created by South Korea’s acclaimed artist Lee Bul.
While the exhibition was open to the general public, Dior reserved an exclusive invitation for Ewha students under the Dior and Ewha partnership tied back in 2022. As a token of appreciation from Dior, Ewha was granted 600 reservation spots to the exhibition, and 16 students were selected to attend the Dior Arts Talk.
Furthermore, Dior offered docent programs to provide in-person tours around the exhibition in both Korean and English. Ewha students from College of Art & Design were chosen by professors to join the program as docents.
“Since the artworks were mostly created by Korean artists, I felt pride in introducing them to foreign visitors, especially as a representative of Ewha,” said Lee Jeonglim, an Ewha graduate school student majoring in color design technology who participated as a docent. “Preparing for the exhibition also helped me understand fashion as another form of art.”
One of the students who attended the exhibition under the partnership, Yeongjin Park, a sophomore from the Division of International Studies, noticed that Dior had differentiated the Lady Dior bags that were for sales and for display by labeling the former as products and the latter as artworks.
“I was impressed by their attention to such minute details in a large- scale exhibition like this.” Park said.
To Park, the highlight of the exhibition was artist Zadie Xa’s reinterpretation of the Lady Dior bag that had well blended Korean aesthetics into Dior’s classic handbag using traditional Korean color tones and mother-of-pearl textures.
“Thanks to the partnership, I was able to conveniently get into the exhibition without having to wait in the long lines outside the store which felt like a considerate action from Dior,” Park replied.
Jungyeon Park, a sophomore from the Division of International Studies, also shared her experience touring the exhibition.
“It was so impressive to see the artworks up close in real life,” Park said. “I could listen to explanations from docents along the way and watch videos of the artists explaining their motifs that provided me basic insight to appreciate the artworks.”
Amongst the Lady Dior collector bags, Park commented that artist Jia Lee’s series was the most memorable as it included rough flower designs,drawing out vivid emotions through the flowers.
Regarding the reevaluation of the school’s partnership with Dior, Park was able to develop a better understanding of the partnership through the exhibition as she came to acknowledge the common ground Ewha and Dior shared beyond their respective roles as an educational institution and a fashion house on women empowerment and innovation towards society.
Indeed, the partnership had struck a medium of mutual support between the luxury brand and the university in nurturing pioneering women leaders.
Prior to the exhibition, Dior provided internship opportunities and education programs for Ewha students as part of the alliance. One such international mentoring program was Women@Dior, where Ewha students were selected to be trained by Dior mentors on leadership and career expertise. The program is a part of UNESCO’s global coalition for women’s education, which is in line with Ewha’s vision.
The French brand also launched the Dior Fall 2022 fashion show at Ewha, making it the first runway show in South Korea. Ewha students were invited as backstage helpers who dressed the models, matching accessories, props, and shoes to the designers’ outfits.
As the Lady Dior Celebration exhibition came to a successful end, it shed a fresh light on the Dior and Ewha partnership, bringing new expectations of Ewha to proceed into bigger stages.