Dior translates house codes into limited-edition home collection

Dior Home at the brand’s boutique in London

French couture house Christian Dior is drawing off its founder’s passion for décor with the creation of a home goods collection.

The first limited-edition line for Dior Home is available exclusively at the brand’s newly opened London flagship, with pieces from artists and designers including Peter Marino and Hubert Le Gall. For Dior, this new edition to its offerings allows the brand to honor Mr. Dior’s legacy whilealso  giving brand enthusiasts the opportunity to communicate their love for the label in their home environments.

“Luxury brands, such as Dior, are using the expansion of product lines and categories to further capture brand loyalty allowing them to engage with their client base on a new level,” said Rebecca Miller, CEO of Miller & Company, New York.

“Many view home products as a natural progression or segue allowing them to go deeper into the lifestyles of their clients, creating a stronger tie to the brand while creating a new revenue opportunity,” she said. “These new collections open up the opportunity for Dior to reach a broader base through an assortment of products, which align with or mirror their image, creating greater opportunity for brand awareness.”

Ms. Miller is not affiliated with Dior, but agreed to comment as an industry expert.

Dior did not respond before press deadline.

Home base
Home furnishings have had a place at Dior’s Avenue Montaigne store in Paris since its opening, but the objects feature in a special home section were curated from other sources rather than produced by Dior itself. While this allowed the brand, and Mr. Dior, to communicate a point-of-view outside of ready-to-wear and couture, the products were not Dior’s from their conception.

Now, the brand has teamed up with creatives to launch its own homewares. The resulting collection is available exclusively in Dior’s new home in London’s Mayfair neighborhood, a four-floor flagship designed by architect Mr. Marino.

The House of Dior in London

Mr. Marino, known for his modern use of luxurious materials such as marble, translated his most well-known cabinet design into three bronzed boxes for Dior Home. Made in France, the boxes are individually numbered and signed by the artist.

Mr. Le Gall, a scenographer who has previously worked with Dior to design furniture for the brand’s boutiques, decided to work with porcelain for the first time in his creations for Dior Home. His cups, mugs and coffee service evoke couture through shapes that mimic a cinched waist.

Also departing from her usual medium is Véronique Taittinger, a linen specialist. Taking the idea of her embroidery into tableware, she embellished flatware and cups with designs that evoke house codes, including the lily of the valley and leopard print.

Glassblower Jérémy Maxwell was inspired by the concept of royalty for his set of vases in royal blue, pink, grey and white. The hand-blown pieces are made without help of a mold, making each piece unique.

Dior’s color palette of grey, black and white was the starting point for Jérôme Faillant-Dumas, an interior architect and furniture designer who designed a series of ashtrays and trays for Dior Home. Mixing materials such as marble, brass or oak, he referenced the many textiles used in Dior’s couture creations.

Giberto Arrivabene, who works with Murano glass, crafted vases, candleholders, paperweights and glasses featuring engravings.

Giving consumers insights into each of the artists, Dior has profiled each of them on its online magazine DiorMag. The Dior Home collection will work with new creatives on limited-edition products in the future on a regular basis.

“Dior has strategically engaged with outside creatives that have both a knowledge and appreciation for the codes of Dior, but who are also established experts in their respective fields,” Ms. Miller said. “The position they have adopted speaks well to the global positioning of the brand, to their understanding of the benefits of creative collaboration and to the needs and desires of their clients and competition.

“There is a pronounced strength when a brand demonstrates courage by letting others ‘paint on the canvas of their brand,'” she said. “It is this wisdom that helps to ensure verve and success of a heritage brand – honoring innovation and creativity, combining tradition and modernity, as these creatives have demonstrated using some of Dior’s famous colors–grey, white and black with a complimentary powder pink and nod of a royal blue to the master craftsmanship–lest we forget the lily-of-the-valley and star codes.”

Coming home
For apparel brands, home décor serves as a brand extension, enabling consumers to outfit their homes in the same manner as their closets.

Gucci’s Alessandro Michele tried his hand at home furnishing design in a collaboration with shelter publication Cabana magazine.

Since taking the reins as creative director at the Italian firm, Mr. Michele has left an impression on the fashion industry by updating Gucci’s look in a fantastical way that blends its codes with modern accents. Extending the Gucci aesthetic to a collection of bespoke chairs, the designer’s collaboration with Cabana was exclusively available on online marketplace 1stDibs (see story).

Italian fashion label Versace took over full control of its home décor collection, moving that division of its brand in-house.

Versace Home has been producing its own textiles from its beginning in 1992, but the brand relied on partnerships with Cassina Contract and Nemo to produce its furniture and lighting. By internalizing its home business, Versace is looking to further the growth it has seen, owning and operating its entire brand world (see story).

“Several luxury fashion brands have entered the home design space,” Ms. Miller said. “It has become a new, almost expected, standard to further develop a fashion brand, which already occupies one space in a home into the other areas where life is ‘lived’ and ‘lifestyles are developed.’

“The more opportunity or touch points a brand has to interact with a client or prospect, the greater the chance to convert them into a loyal customer and a brand ambassador – an advantage that has produced quantifiable financial results,” she said.

“Important to remember was that Monsieur Dior invented a whole lifestyle at 30 Avenue Montaigne where his couture clients would often buy a gift as they left having come for a fitting or a dress. One might view this initiative as a continuation or development of Dior’s original business concepts.”

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