Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams Exhibit Opens in Tokyo

The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT) has opened its doors to the public for the exhibition Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams, designed by OMA/Shohei Shigematsu. The exhibition, on view until May 28, 2023, is the largest dedicated to the House of Dior to take place in Japan and marks the third exhibition design collaboration between OMA and Dior. 

The exhibition presents a reimagined narrative and curation, showcasing the 70-year history and connection between Dior and Japan while paying homage to Japanese culture and tradition. This follows the success of Dior's retrospectives in the United States at the Denver Art Museum (2018) and the Dallas Museum of Art (2019).

“The fashion exhibition is a domain that requires architecture to become a narrative medium. We wanted to expand and diversify the potential for storytelling through a retrospective that not only looks back at history but brings new life and relevance to today’s culture. As a Japanese architect trained and operating in the West, it was exciting to discover Dior’s relationship and history with Japan. The exhibition experience is designed to take others on a similar journey of discovery, highlighting new synergies between Japan and France, architecture and couture, tradition and innovation,” said Shohei Shigematsu, OMA Partner.

Designer of Dreams, Exhibition view of “Dior and Japan”. Photography by Daici Ano, Courtesy Dior.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT) has opened its doors to the public for the exhibition Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams, designed by OMA/Shohei Shigematsu. The exhibition, on view until May 28, 2023, is the largest dedicated to the House of Dior to take place in Japan and marks the third exhibition design collaboration between OMA and Dior. The exhibition presents a reimagined narrative and curation, showcasing the 70-year history and connection between Dior and Japan while paying homage to Japanese culture and tradition. This follows the success of Dior's retrospectives in the United States at the Denver Art Museum (2018) and the Dallas Museum of Art (2019). \

The spaces in the exhibition blend elements from both Japanese tradition and culture, as well as Dior's history and contemporary collections. These elements include specific themes, techniques, and construction methods to create a unique and grand performance. The visual and spatial qualities of familiar elements are manipulated to create new surfaces, which are then enhanced with dynamic projections and graphics, as well as artwork by Japanese artist Ayumi Shibata and photographer Yuriko Takagi.

“The scenography is a series of distinct set designs for diverse curatorial themes. The starting point for each set was a common ground shared by Dior and Japan such as a mode of craft or material expression. By translating and manipulating that shared element into architectural forms and contemporary shapes, we provide a new set of surfaces for storytelling that feels surprising and tectonic, yet grounded in the inventive and disciplined beauty we found to be authentic to both the House of Dior and Japanese culture,” said Shigematsu.