Philippe Starck reinvents iconic Medallion chair for Milan Design Week
Dior Maison has invited Philippe Starck to reimagine a classic icon. The result, Miss Dior, is now on show at Palazzo Citterio for Milan Design Week
A collaboration between Dior Maison, under the creative direction of Cordelia de Castellane, and French industrial architect and designer Philippe Starck has resulted in the reinterpretation of a design icon.
Named Miss Dior, and unveiled during Milan Design Week (7-12 June), twenty-four iterations of the chair are currently on show at Palazzo Citterio.
Taking its design cues from the French Maison’s renowned Medallion chair, Miss Dior finds its roots in the Louis XVI style, dear to Christian Dior.
A depiction of savoir-faire, the piece combines the fundamentals of the House with supreme craftsmanship. Starck’s discerning eye and multidisciplinary knowledge imbue his designs with elegance, displayed in Miss Dior’s subdued tones of polished and black chrome, pink copper and gold.
Driven by a “passion du minimum”, the visionary designer has refined the structure of the famous seat, fusing a sleek silhouette with aluminium to create a piece that exudes subtle sophistication.
‘Some have searched all their lives for the little black dress, I have always dreamed of the perfect little chair’, says Starck. ‘This icon of perfection clearly exists in our collective unconscious, in the form of the Louis XVI Medallion chair and its magic oval, which is one of the symbols of the House of Dior. Everything has always brought me back to this chair.’
Made in Italy, the timeless design conveys a balanced rhythm that reaches a perfect harmony among sinuous shapes and sumptuous materials, making the Miss Dior chair a tasteful add-on to homes, hospitality venues and lounges.
The collaboration between Dior Maison and Philippe Starck reflects the French creator’s desire to explore and reveal the chair’s quintessential backbone with three unique models, one of which features a single armrest.
During Milan Design Week, Miss Dior will be on view at Palazzo Citterio, an exquisite 18th-century palace located in the heart of the city. With theatrical staging and monochrome decor, the set—which perfectly balances darkness and light to give visual direction—was specifically designed to bring out the different shades of each chair.
While the darkness provides a backdrop against which the Miss Dior chairs take centre stage, the immersive installation is brought to life by an interplay of light, punctuated by a musical composition, as a striking scenographic choreography unveils, one by one, each of the twenty-four Miss Dior chairs.
Created for Dior by experimental troupe Soundwalk Collective, founded by Stephan Crasneanscki in New York in 2000 and joined by Simone Merli in 2008, the music is based on a piece by French composer Erik Satie.
‘This collaboration was extremely natural for me’, concludes Starck. ‘With the Miss Dior chair, collective memory takes centre stage. We all drew this historical icon with our memory.’
