philippe starck suspends miss dior chairs in enchanting carousel scenography at design week

philippe starck enchants visitors with miss dior chairs

Philippe Starck weaves an enthralling wonderland in the heart of Dior Maison’s home in Palazzo Citterio in Brera for Milan Design Week 2023. Within the expansive space, he suspends Miss Dior chairs from the first Dior by Starck collection back in 2022 and forms a layered aerial carousel that alludes to the whimsical times of one’s childhood.

The magnetic black floor mirrors the fictive performance throughout the space, basking the breadth of the room in a hypnotic and immersive experience. Visitors are entitled to witness the collaborative show between Starck and Dior from April 18th to 23rd, 2023.

images courtesy of Philippe Starck and Dior | photos © Adrien Dirand

Starck’s poetic Miss Dior chairs only signal the beginning of his seat concert with the Maison. His flock of chairs is followed by his reinvention of the iconic Medallion chair, a homage to the emblematic figure of Monsieur Dior. Starck takes on the work to reveal what the Monsieur would call ‘the life that is in everything’ by bringing up an ethereal celebration of the Maison’s and its creator’s heritage.

‘After Miss Dior (the chair conceived during the first collaboration between Philippe Starck and the House of Dior in 2022), it was natural to expand the family. The duo of creations, the Miss Dior Sweet chair and the Monsieur Dior armchair, are perfectly balanced through these essential, existential notions of gravity and lightness, of yin and yang. Miss Dior and Monsieur Dior, Catherine and Christian Dior, the sister and the brother, the chair and the armchair, is the story of a sublime complementary duality,’ comments Starck.

Miss Dior chairs offer an aerial ballet installation inside palazzo citterio

Reinventing the iconic medallion chair

Under the hands of Philippe Starck, the covetable Monsieur Dior armchair receives another life in the body of plush seats imprinted with elements of nature, a glance into the Monsieur’s reverence for the environment, from flora to fauna. Starck freshens up the chairs with a splash of superlative yet contrasting palettes – vibrant red and charcoal black with white, for instance – while retaining the sheer grace of the original seat.

Polished or lacquered aluminum visits the materiality of the sculptural pieces, melding with ecru bouclé fabric and pink, black, or fluorescent orange toile de Jouy. These works of design are all made in Italy by the hands of artisans that also produce a myriad of tables in different sizes to accompany their sibling chairs.

the magnetic black floor mirrors the fictive performance

Starck believes that there is an equitable balance with Christian Dior, the interplay between the firm and the subtle, the masculinity and the femininity. For the designer, this passion-centered ethos running through the Monsieur’s creative DNA hints at his secret to the longevity and importance of his work.

‘That is how I see Monsieur Dior, and that is how I wanted to conceive this collection, which is ultra-technological and entirely graceful,’ says Starck. ‘We have once again transcended the boundaries of excellence at the convergence of craftsmanship – that virtuoso poetry of the hand – and the most advanced new techniques.’

Starck’s poetic Miss Dior chairs only signal the beginning of his seat concert with the maison

‘Passion for the minimum’

Starck is backed by the code of ‘passion for the minimum.’ He acts as a conductor for minimalism, orchestrating the baring of excessive design elements that may hinder the rawness of the chairs’ compositions. As he seeks the finesse of the seats’ silhouette, he turns to aluminum, a belief that its durability and simplicity in style rouses the understated visual of his Dior chairs. ‘Aluminum is the point zero from which everything is built, the idea of intelligence and purity of technology. The object as it is in its origin, its essence, without any dross,’ adds Starck.

Starck takes on the work to reveal what the Monsieur would call ‘the life that is in everything’

At times, visitors may dwarf against the towering aerial ballet of the suspended Miss Dior chairs as they wind through the installation in Palazzo Citterio. They gaze up to scrutinize the slopes and details of each chair, all while being pulled into a dreamy state caused by the rhythm of a musical composition by Soundwalk Collective (Stephan Crasneanscki and Simone Merli). The scenographic choreography, along with the evident celebratory tribute to the Monsieur, spotlights the dialogue of creativity and the bond between Philippe Starck and the House of Dior.

Dior states that the Milanese adventure continues in the windows of the Dior boutique in Montenapoleone, which are ornate with pieces created by Philippe Starck for the House. This pursuit of showcasing the ephemeral series leaving a lasting impression accumulates yet another sculptural show exhibited on the first floor of the boutique where visitors are more than welcome to roam around, dwell, and savor the expressions of savoir-faire and harmony that Starck has imagined for Dior.