Culture, Craft & Couture
The Christian Dior Spring/Summer 2022 Haute Couture show at Musée Rodin in Paris on January 24
The concepts and creation of our Contemporary Collections are driven by a decades long passion for traditional Indian jewellery, combined with a female, Western-centered perspective and contemporary, personal interpretation of the rich Indian visual and cultural language.
This combination results in an intriguing mix of cultural exchange, traditional craftsmanship and typical visual language. Jewellery design that caters to the tastes of lovers and collectors of fine jewellery in both the Eastern and Western hemispheres. As such, the collections carry a distinctive quality and substance, similar to our collection of antique Indian heritage jewellery. Quintessentially Van Gelder!
In this light we share our current obsession; the Haute Couture SS22 presentation by Dior, last week in Paris Musee Rodin. On the walls were art works inspired by 22 paintings of Delhi-based artist couple Madhvi and Manu Parekh, which were then carefully hand embroidered by 320 master artisans of the Chanakya School of Craft in Mumbai. This was the third collaboration with this institute of handicrafts, co-founded by Karishma Swali.
Maria Grazia Chiuri, commissioned the installations for the presentation of the collection and as a celebration of craftsmanship. In so doing erasing the distinction between artisan and artist, honoring the house’s network of suppliers, stretching from Paris halfway across the world: “The central point is the space, the atelier, where all the people work together. I think that we are very conscious today of the importance of this connection,” she said in a preview. “The reality is that we are a big community.”
“The collective vision for this collaboration was to create an immersive experience that celebrates the culture of craftsmanship and the interconnection between us all. This collaboration with the artists aims to overcome the division between art and craft. It recounts their love story, and speaks of how one seamlessly influences the other.” says Karishma Swali of the Mumbai Chanakya School of Craft’s embroiderers.
We applaud Dior for this true celebration of culture, craftsmanship, of diversity, of highlighting folk art and the artisanal skill as a distinct vocabulary of expression. And how this translates and connects with Art and Haute Couture.
For those who have been following our journey for some time, you know this is right into our hearts, resonating on all levels, with everything we stand for and believe in.