Dior celebrates 70 years of friendship with Harrods with two novel pop-up stores, special window displays, the opening of a Café Dior, an exhibition and a special collection to commemorate the collaboration.
If you happen to be visiting London during the Christmas period this year or early next, be sure to drop by the Harrods department store for a special experience of the iconic space, transformed into somewhat of a life-sized gingerbread house but filled with the magic of Dior’s splendour and whimsies.
As Harrods’ earliest singular branded boutique, Dior takes this year’s festive period to celebrate the special friendship the two houses have cultivated over the past 70 years. The Maison reimagines the complex into The Fabulous World of Dior, a spectacular presentation that illuminates not just the hallways, but also two multi-experience pop-up stores and 44 enticing window displays that, for the first time in the history of the department store, converts each window into a tableau world of gingerbread – an essential English Christmas treat. punctuated by mouldings and details sculpted in sugar and caramel, tickling the fancy of those with a sweet tooth and expanding the imagination of all.
Fronted by a magnetic Shepherd’s Star that sits 17 metres above Harrods’ dome entrance — the building’s largest to date — the interior design of the space takes inspiration from Christmas-time fairytales, taking visitors into the refuge of Dior motifs, including the compass rose, lucky stars and scintillating flowers — as interpreted by artist Pietro Ruffo for the Dior cruise 2023 collection — coating the entirety of the inside and outside of the Brompton Road staple structure.
The pop-up store’s present icons of the Maison in cabinets of curiosities — the first an authentic gingerbread house that summons visitors into the secret wings of 30 Montaigne, and the latter an ephemeral gift shop that invites each and all to find pieces from ready-to-wear to shoes to gift and delight their loved ones.
Expect to see the Lady Dior, Dior Book Tote, and micro-bags transported on conveyor belts that come right out of Santa’s workshop, and homeware items from the Dior Chez Moi capsule, suggest a new art of living with a softer touch
There are also two new spaces devoted just to beauty, one presenting the couture fragrances of La Collection Privée, the other inviting visitors to discover all the facets of make-up, skincare and perfume according to Dior.
Harrods also houses a poetic exhibition that reproduces the architecture of Dior’s iconic locations in miniature form, encompassing everything from Granville to La Colle Noire, via 30 Montaigne. Composed entirely of finely crafted cookies, punctuated with arabesques and delicate drawings, the exhibition showcases the virtuosity of craft and expert savoir-faire – from sculpture to animation – celebrated by the House, an expression of the audacity and art of detail so important to everything that Dior so elegantly stands for.
To conclude this dreamlike voyage, the Maison launches Café Dior at Harrods, in homage to British culture and the pleasure of receiving guests — a practice dear to Monsieur Dior. On the menu is a collection of French cuisine classics interpreted with a twist of British influence, presenting treats such as Cornish crab with green apple, Atlantic lobster Thermidor and yuzu vinaigrette, and a roasted chestnut velouté with winter chanterelles.
For this festive alliance, Dior is also presenting a brand-new capsule that extolls the silhouettes of Kim Jones’ Men’s wardrobe with Harrods fundamentals. Within an exclusive space dedicated to Dior Men’s lines, a double-breasted jacket with a button tab closing, the Artistic Director’s iconic cut, is revealed sublimated in the emblematic green of the British department store.
This shade is also featured on accessories such as ties or bow ties for an extra touch of distinction to New Year’s Eve attire.
In a playful and distinguished detail, the House revisits the historic plaque that furnishes the entrance to the London building and transforms it into a “Christian Dior Couture” patch embroidered on t-shirts, sweatshirts and long-sleeved pullovers.
The signature CD Diamond logo, all-over knitwear pieces, is reinvented in a deep green cotton canvas – also exclusively created for this event – and is sketched on items of the House’s leather goods collection, such as the Lingot 50 duffle bag, the Hit the Road backpack and the B27 low sneakers.
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