Miss Dior dresses worn by Natalie Portman in Miss Dior campaigns and works by artists.
Courtesy
The latest installment of the Miss Dior exhibition has landed at Shanghai’s Fosun Foundation, coinciding with the launch of the new Miss Dior Essence scent in the Chinese market.
Celebrating the exhibition that was created by Christian Dior in 1947, the “Miss Dior Exhibition: Stories of a Miss” will run from until Oct. 8 and is free of charge.
So far over 15,000 visitors have signed up for the show on the luxury brand’s WeChat Mini Program — a sign of the strong interest in the scent family, which has already become a top seller for the brand in China, alongside Dior’s other iconic scent, J’adore.
According to Véronique Courtois, chief executive officer of Parfums Christian Dior, the exhibition is more than a rich story around Miss Dior — it is also a celebration of “courage, hope, joy, optimism, and love, values embodied by Catherine Dior” — the undisputed muse for its founder and the “miss” in “Miss Dior.”
“It’s not only a fragrance, it’s the spirit of the house,” said Courtois. “It’s got this fashion point of view, representing the young and fresh side of his fashion — Miss Dior is a miss forever, never a madame — it helps you have a colored vision of the world.”
Courtois noted that the fragrance’s sense of optimism aligns with Chinese consumers’ growing need for emotional resonance.
Still a nascent market, China’s fragrance industry is expected to grow to nearly 34 billion renminbi, or $4.7 billion, by 2028, according to a report by Eternal Group and Deloitte, which described fragrance as “a tool for self-expression and emotional regulation.”
The exhibition is meant to deepen Dior’s connection with Chinese culture.
“I’m trusting China for the future, that’s why we’ve been investing in Beijing, that’s why we’ve been investing in Shanghai, because this market will be a leading market for the future. On top of that, I think it’s our role as a fragrance maker not to teach, but to convey what fragrance is truly all about,” added Courtois.
Without sharing too many details, Courtois said future exhibitions are planned for the market. “This is only the beginning,” she added.
Designed by OMA New York, the exhibition is divided into six themed rooms guided by the perfume bottle’s signature ribbon.
The Shanghai space also includes a cafe and a gift shop.
Inside the cafe at the exhibition.
Courtesy
Spanning illustration, sculpture, painting and limited-edition presentation cases, the exhibition creates a dialogue between the floral-scented fragrance, haute couture and fine art.
New works by six Chinese artists, including Ai Jing, Chen Ke, Liang Yanwei, Liu Shiyuan, Zhou Li and Daishi Luo, sit alongside works of the Japanese artist Haruka Kojin, French artist Ingrid Donat, Sabine Marcelis from the Netherlands, and American artist Judy Chicago.
On Sept. 12, Dior feted the launch of the exhibition with a star-studded event and a light show across the Huangpu River.
Brand ambassadors including Xin Liu, Dilraba Dilmurat, Zhou Ye, and Li Yunrui and local stars including Sun Anke, Chen Xingxu, Ai Mi, and Wang Yuwen attended the opening soiree.
Last fall Dior staged the “L’Or de Dior” exhibition at the Guardian Art Center in Beijing. Rihanna’s first J’adore campaign was first unveiled at the exhibition.
The first Miss Dior exhibit took place in Paris, at the Grand Palais, in November 2013. The latest installment traveled to Tokyo’s Roppongi Museum in June 2024.