For the 7th edition of the “Lady Dior Project”, the house has entrusted the reinterpretation of its legendary bag to artist Sara Cwynar. Two models were born, both vintage and daringly modern, mixing historical and contemporary references, embroidery and 3D printing, leather and collage. The artist, Canadian but New Yorker by adoption and heart, explains her journey to us. An arduous task to reinterpret Lady Dior!
L’Express: What were the guidelines and how did you redesign this legendary bag?
Sara Cwynar: It was very open. I started from a blank page. The exercise was really nice and “refreshing” compared to my previous work. I immediately started thinking about what this bag evokes. For me it represents luxury, quality and history. So I referred to other iconic symbols. I started thinking about collages and textures. It was very exciting to think about how to merge historical and contemporary images around this luxury object to bring another vision of it.
What message do you want to convey with this very personal reinterpretation?
For all of my work, I think a lot about how we absorb images, from pop culture and elite culture, without thinking about their meaning. So I wanted my bag to contain meaning, politics and history. I wanted it to feel like a small museum, a small archive of images. Photos of advertisements, art, portraits… I spent a lot of time finding the right mix. The Dior teams, thanks to both high-tech tools and their traditional know-how, opened up many possibilities for me.
Where do you find inspiration?
I always try to create a connection between seemingly uninteresting images and others that have a lot of value. I combine them to make something different. I’m very inspired by what I see on the street, by pop culture and fashion. Since we are spending more and more time online, luxury is appropriating elements that before could not coexist: that interests me as well.
How would you define your universe?
I think a lot about the way things repeat themselves and this mix between history and the present moment. I study how beauty can capture our attention, how politics work, how we find pleasure…
What is your relationship with the world of luxury?
I observe this universe to find inspiration or reflect on my own work. The worlds of art and fashion have a lot in common, in terms of elevating things.
What is your relationship to materials and sustainable development?
Why do new things when there are so many objects in the world that we can reuse? In my works, I use hundreds of plastic caps, old boxes, old candles to create shapes. I try to think about how dead materials or objects that no longer matter can hold meaning and history while still being very connected to the present.