Gilbert & George put a subversive spin on the Lady Dior handbag

British art’s foremost provocateurs, Gilbert & George, have teamed up with Parisian fashion house Dior on the latest iteration of its Dior Lady Art Project. Now in its eighth edition, Lady Art invites an eclectic array of international artists to put their unique stamp on perhaps Dior’s most recognisable handbag, the ‘Lady Dior’ (see results of the seventh edition here). The style – originally called the ‘Chouchou’ – was popularised by Diana Princess of Wales when she was presented it as a gift by then-First Lady of France, Bernadette Chirac, in 1995 (she wore various iterations over the years that followed).

If the style has become synonymous with ladylike elegance and restraint, Gilbert & George’s take has an altogether more subversive air, seeing the handbag’s printed and embossed calfskin exterior – with velvet and 3D resin inlay – adorned with their likenesses, arranged like a cross and staring contemptuously outwards at the wearer. On the other side, ‘Love always and always’ is printed alongside the artists’ signatures. The bag is completed with a bold red velvet strap.

The launch of the handbag – which will also see editions by Mircea Cantor, Jeffrey Gibson, Ha-Chon Kyun, Mariko Mori and Mickalene Thomas, among others – coincides in part with the opening of the Gilbert & George Centre this past April. Located on Heneage Street, just off London’s Brick Lane and a stone’s throw from the artists’ home and studio, the space, designed by SIRS Architects, was built to preserve and showcase the duo’s works.

This article appears in the November 2023 Art Issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.