A Medley of Artists Reinvent the Lady Dior Handbag, and Other News

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A Medley of Artists Reinvent the Lady Dior Handbag

Dior has long had a knack for churning out viral styles, since long before “going viral” entered the cultural parlance. The French fashion house’s Lady Dior handbag has been a repeat hit ever since Princess Diana rocked it in the ‘90s. Its latest turn in the spotlight will see it reimagined by 11 global artists as part of the Dior Lady Art campaign, in which today’s foremost creative talents are invited to reinvent pieces from the brand’s past and present. The eleven artists putting their spin on the Lady Dior handbag this time around include Ghada Amer, Brian Calvin, Sara Cwynar, Alex Gardner, Shara Hughes, Dorothy Iannone, Minjung Kim, Zhenya Machneva, Bouthayna Al Muftah, Françoise Pétrovitch, and Wang Yuyang. —Jenna Adrian-Diaz

Sybarite tops a giant submerged mall with a park by James Corner Field Operations.

“London studio Sybarite has created a shopping center for department store SKP in Chengdu, China, that is topped with a landscape created in collaboration with New York–based James Corner Field Operations. Set alongside the New Century Global Center, which is the world’s largest building, the mall contains 5.38 million square feet of retail and hospitality spaces with 99 percent of the buildings below ground level. The multi-level shopping center is anchored by the SKP department store at the north and the future-focused SKP-S store at the south, which is topped by six water-spewing towers that reach up to 128 feet high.” [H/T Dezeen]

Thieves steal $400,000 worth of artwork from a padlocked truck in Boulder, Colorado. 

“More than $400,000 worth of art was stolen from a locked truck in Boulder, CO, on the night of Dec. 14, according to authorities. Employees of the company responsible for transporting the artwork reportedly stayed at a hotel along South Boulder Road, leaving the vehicle in a car park overnight. The following morning, they discovered the truck’s padlock had been cut and five paintings had been forcibly removed. The pieces are reportedly attributable to Taos Society of Artists, a New Mexico-based commercial cooperative dating from the 1920s that largely depicted romanticized scenes from the American West. One of the paintings was created by Elaine De Kooning, whose ties to the Great Plains were well-documented. The Boulder police department is soliciting the public for leads.” [H/T The Art Newspaper]

At CES, BMW teases a color-changing concept car that forecasts the future of vehicles.

“The latest concept car from the German automaker is bringing this previously unimaginable color scheme to life. The BMW i Vision Dee is a color-changing chameleon of a car, with 240 e-ink powered body panels and hub caps that can display a range of shades and patterns made up of 32 different colors. Individually programmable and customizable, the car’s body is capable of taking on millions of potential color schemes. Driven out on stage at CES, the car first appeared bone white. Then, a cavalcade of colors washed over its exterior surfaces, turning the car yellow then purple then gray, shades flickering over the segmented body in solid washes and patterns like a checkerboard or Scottish tartan.” [H/T Fast Company]

The Rodin Museum in Paris has scrapped plans for an outpost in the Canary Islands. 

“Following months of pushback, the Rodin Museum has axed its plan to build a multimillion-dollar outpost in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, a port city in Spain’s Canary Islands. The branch was conceived as an international cultural destination akin to other relatively recent additions to the country’s institutional landscape, such as the Guggenheim Bilbao and the Picasso Museum Málaga. Should the project have gone forward, Santa Cruz de Tenerife would have been responsible for raising $17 million for the venue and the cost of acquiring 83 Rodin sculptures—at least 68 of which would have been small- to medium-sized bronze replicas. Construction would have taken place over the next few years.” [H/T Artnet News]

Everlane will cut 17 percent of its corporate staff amid inflation and recession fears.

“The DTC basics brand announced internally on Wednesday that it will cut staff to help improve profitability by the end of the year amid rising inflation and recession fears, according to an internal email. Everlane will lay off 17 percent of its 175 corporate employees, along with reducing staff in three of its 11 store locations. The company’s chief executive said the belated move followed other cost-cutting measures. Everlane previously laid off hundreds of retail and customer service employees in March 2020.” [H/T Business of Fashion]

Renée Gailhoustet, the French architect who advocated for social housing, dies at 93.

“Renée Gailhoustet, French architect, pioneer of social housing, and winner of the 2022 Royal Academy Architecture Prize, has passed away aged 93. As announced by the Royal Academy, she died in her home in Le Liégat, Ivry-sur-Seine, one of her best-known projects, which was completed in 1982. Throughout her career, stretching back to the 1960s, Renée Gailhoustet was a strong advocate for social housing, exemplifying through her work a vision of generous housing in harmony with their urban environments.” [H/T ArchDaily]

Toyo Ito oversees a serene homestay and restaurant at Kyoto’s scenic Kosei-in temple.

“A new lodging and dining hall is opened on the grounds of the private ‘Kosei-in’ temple in central Kyoto under the supervision of Pritzker Prize winner Toyo Ito. Designed by Japanese architect Michiko Okano, the project transforms the pre-existing structures into a homestay and restaurant combining tradition and modernity. The resulting complex welcomes visitors to a scenic setting that has remained unchanged since the Edo period and has almost never been open to the public. In order to preserve the beauty of the private temple and its garden, the accommodation accepts only 100 groups of guests per year.” [H/T Designboom]

Today’s attractive distractions:

Melissa Pérez Puga’s chocolate bites cleverly embody the texture of coral reefs.

There’s growing evidence that the universe is connected by giant structures.

This exhibition returns Melbourne’s Flinders Street Station to its industrial past.

A slightly unnerving device fact-checks whether or not you actually LOL-ed.