The Holidays

©Andrea Cenetiempo

An enchanted christmas in the Tuileries

For the holiday season, the House has created a dreamlike stroll through the emblematic Tuileries Gardens in Paris. An enchanted odyssey in the heart of the City of Light that celebrates the founding couturier’s passion for flowers.

©Andrea Cenetiempo

“I thank heaven I lived in Paris during the last years of the Belle Époque. My mind retains the picture of a time full of happiness (…) in which everything was directed towards the art of living,” wrote Christian Dior in his memoirs.

Originally from Normandy but a Parisian in heart and spirit, the couturier had an unconditional fascination for the French capital. When he moved to Rue Royale in 1937, the Tuileries Gardens became his new Eden. Its tree-lined corridors, carefully trimmed hedges, and lawns hemmed with floral arrangements and dotted with statues – a veritable open-air gallery – delighted and inspired the couturier, who appreciated its refinement and French classicism. From 1947 to 1957, after the triumph of the iconic New Look, he named several of his designs Tuileries, among them a white tulle gala outfit for the spring-summer 1949 haute couture collection, an afternoon ensemble and coat in red wool for autumn-winter 1953 and an evening gown for the autumn-winter 1957 line.

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Dior has never ceased to celebrate that fascination through a series of memorable events. In 1987, the Musée des Arts de la Mode – located in a wing of the former Palais des Tuileries – hosted the retrospective Hommage à Christian Dior 1947-1957 in honour of the House’s fortieth anniversary. Three decades later, the exhibition Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams opened at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs overlooking the Tuileries; since the early 2000s, several Dior shows have been staged in this emblem of the City of Light. Maria Grazia Chiuri has been reviving and perpetuating that tradition since 2020, unveiling her ready-to-wear collections in the heart of the historic Parisian garden commissioned by Catherine de’ Medici, one of the Creative Director’s inspirational figures for the Dior spring-summer 2023 women’s ready-to-wear défilé. Dior is also committed to preserving the beauty of the Tuileries by supporting a number of large-scale projects to embellish and enhance the gardens, from 2020 through 2024.

In 2023, to celebrate the Christmas season, the House offers a passionate new tribute to this royal setting in a collaboration with the Rome-based artist Pietro Ruffo, who has designed an extraordinary motif evoking symbols and other jewels of the Tuileries. Around its grand octagonal fountain, the statues of La Renommée and Mercure astride Pegasus appear amid a profusion of roses and finely crafted details recalling the ironwork that graces the park’s gates. A marvellous universe, which this season blossoms into several creations dedicated to beauty, the art of gifting and pampering.

©Andrea Cenetiempo

©Andrea Cenetiempo

Enchanting scrollwork decorates a box of three candles selected from La Collection Privée Christian Dior, as well as on a fabulous Advent calendar¹, illuminating the holiday season with an extra touch of magic. Like an Atelier of Dreams, this architectural piece reprises the façade of 30 Montaigne – the House’s historic address – and reveals, behind its doors, an illustration by Pietro Ruffo affixed like a sacred seal, an enchanting secret.

An ode to the wonder and virtuosity of savoir-faire, the exclusive Malle des Rêves was conceived as a “miniature world” that brings together the House’s finest treasures. Unique object of desire, revealed in a sleek wooden box punctuated by precious finishing touches. Inside, an Advent calendar extends an invitation to embark on an exhilarating quest, with each drawer containing a multitude of olfactory surprises, accessories and ultra-desirable creations².

1. Also available in a mini format.

2. Signed by Parfums Christian Dior and La Collection Privée.

Continuing this tribute to excellence, Dior presents a captivating new collaboration with the ateliers at Bernardaud: the prestigious French Manufacture – founded in Limoges in 1863 – has produced three infinitely delicate porcelain lithophanes. Handcrafted and offered in a limited edition, each holds a candle – exalting the fragrance trail of 30 Montaigne from La Collection Privée Christian Dior – which, once lit, reveals the collection’s interlaced motif or the contours of the House’s historical address. The emotion and elegance of the French art of living, reinvented through poetry of the hand.

An odyssey brought to life in a campaign featuring Anya Taylor-Joy in a labyrinth etched out in the heart of the Tuileries Gardens – leading to a charmed carrousel – where every Dior dream comes true.

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