Dior Maison’s creative director is here to spruce up your home’s table settings
AD PRO: Flowers are such a big part of the Dior story, from the corolla silhouette with the perfume of the house lily of the valley. How do you continue to reinvent floral designs for collections like Dior Garden all these years later?
CDC: Flowers are my main subjects. I love flowers, I love designing them and I love using them to make prints and patterns. Monsieur Dior was himself a great gardener, which he learned from his mother. With this collection, I was inspired by the garden designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri for the Spring 2020 show, I embraced color and created the impression of floating flowers.
AD PRO: The story of Dior Maison is fascinating. Are there any facts that are not widely known about this?
CDC: Dior Maison has been around since day one. Monsieur Dior loved interiors, and he also long nurtured the desire to be an architect. When he opened his fashion house, he created a separate department at the same time so that a woman who received a beautiful dress from her husband could perhaps buy a small gift for him, or for their house, such as silverware or other decorative item.
AD PRO: How has your daily routine changed working from home in recent weeks?
CDC: I start work very early in the morning, around 6 am I am up with the birds! Then, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., I’m busy doing all those more practical but necessary things around the house, like cleaning and cooking. I’ve never spent so much time at home before, so this is all very new to me. Then I work again later. I draw mainly early in the morning and in the evening.
AD PRO: Has the experience made you think differently about projects for Dior Maison?
CDC: There is a greater sense of hope and positivity in my designs – lots of color to give a much needed boost. I believe in a better future. I stay positive.
AD PRO: What else do you think?
CDC: Like many creators, I’m someone who needs a lot of quiet and being alone, so I’m finally incredibly lucky to be here in the countryside and able to work to the sound of birdsong.
But it’s very difficult to find myself separated from my mother and my closest friends, and to think about what’s going on in the world. There’s this feeling of helplessness, so I try to help as many people as possible. I think a lot about what life is going to be like. And I miss the workshops and the know-how. I miss my team at Dior, because for me it’s also a family.