PARIS — Dior is adding a new chapter to its My Dior jewelry collection.
The 18-karat gold range will span 15 designs, with the first 12 launching Tuesday and a further three slated for release in November.
Like its first incarnation in 2012, My Dior is all about the cannage motif, a throughline for the French luxury brand.
For Victoire de Castellane, artistic director of Dior Joaillerie, the inspiration for the line is rooted in childhood memories of accompanying her mother to the Avenue Montaigne boutique, where golden chairs and the house’s fashions impacted the future jewelry designer.
First seen on the ornate Napoleon III chairs of Christian Dior’s inaugural 1947 show, this decorative motif of woven rattan became a house code that has been used extensively, from its women’s and men’s designs to purses, perfume, watches and home goods.
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“When I imagined [the line], I really had in mind raffia or straw weaving,” she recalled. “There was this idea of playing with a natural element that became gold.”
She coined the name “My Dior” to play on the homophony with the French word “maille,” or the lattice formed by the woven gold that forms the cannage pattern.
Reprising this line that bowed in 2018 stemmed from de Castellane’s knack for all-gold jewelry that would become a house classic.
“The Dior signature is being very meticulous, very sophisticated and working on the reverse as beautifully as on the front,” she added.
If her earlier designs were all about having a golden lattice playing against the skin, this second chapter followed her desire to revisit the motif as a “ribbon of gold,” with a fine gold cord forming the cannage motif.
Also new is the play on depth that de Castellane intended, playing subtly on different metal tones or made striking by the use of lacquer.
“I like the idea of discovery. It’s very important in jewelry because that’s always how I work,” she said. “The idea of a surprise, of not seeing everything at once, that you have to turn the object to discover the surprises inside.”
While this new chapter starts with 15 pieces, ranging from rings and bracelets to earcuffs and a cuff bracelet, de Castellane could see it growing.
“It can easily lend itself to development of different wears,” she said. “I like playing with this identity that can be worn in a different way, with different colors of metals, different colors altogether.”
The new My Dior also is in step with her observation that wearing jewelry is no longer being limited to special occasions and becoming a daily companion.
“That made me think of a precious tattoo because [fine jewelry] is something you don’t take off so there’s a strong message of appropriating something precious, embracing it and showing that they’re jewelry of a lifetime,” she said.
Ultimately, what she wanted to offer was an immediately recognizable Dior signature.
“I envision the person who chooses this bracelet as someone who wants a sophisticated jewel that they can wear every day and is a very recognizable jewel that is precious but at the same time rather simple,” she continued.
Prices for the My Dior line will go from 3,250 euros for a rose gold ring and up to 160,000 euros for the white gold cuff set with more than 10 carats of diamonds.
The collection’s release will be accompanied by an advertising campaign shot by photographer Brigitte Niedermair, with models in dramatic black looks against red backgrounds.
