Dior Conjures Holiday Magic With Timeless Window Displays

PARIS — “C’est magique!”

So declared a female passerby, moments after Dior chairman and chief executive officer Delphine Arnault and “Call My Agent!” star Camille Cottin unveiled the holiday decorations at the French luxury brand’s historic flagship in Paris.

The event on Friday night kicked off global celebrations focused on house icons showcased in a short film called “Dior’s Enchanted World.”

The holiday campaign reprises key visual elements of Maria Grazia Chiuri’s cruise collection. In her final show as creative director of the house, models wearing white and gold goddess gowns and black lace masks paraded through the fog-shrouded gardens of Rome’s Villa Albani Torlonia after dark. 

That mood is echoed in the film, which is set at night in a maze that houses five universes, including “The Runway of Curiosities,” home to Roman statues, a fortune teller and topiary creatures studded with fairy lights, including swans and a winged horse.

Dior this week dropped the cruise line alongside seasonal items such as a Lady Dior bag in white leather with metallic gold stitching, and new versions of its popular Dior Toujours and D-Journey bags in gold crackled leather. 

Customers hoping to snag items from new designer Jonathan Anderson’s debut men’s and women’s collections for Dior will have to wait until Jan. 2, when the first items are set to reach store shelves worldwide. 

Underscoring continuity amid the recent changes in creative direction, the core elements of the holiday decorations — being deployed in locations spanning from Beverly Hills to Beijing — can be traced to founder Christian Dior and his fondness for talismans like stars, flowers and butterflies. 

The illuminated facade of the Paris store at 30 Avenue Montaigne reprises elements of the spectacular Carousel of Dreams installation that Dior created for Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City in 2023. At its center is a 30-foot ferris wheel with twirling elements including a sun and moon, and 28 mechanical butterflies with beating wings flitting among colorful flowers. 

“We want to spark a sense of wonder in our customers,” said Arnault as a gospel choir performed on the curved central staircase of the store, next to a Christmas tree festooned with oversize gold decorations shaped like Bar jackets and Junon dresses. 

“It’s the magic of Christmas,” she said. “Monsieur Dior’s creations are the soul of our house. He founded Dior right here at 30 Avenue Montaigne, and his presence is still very much felt in these walls.”

Come One, Come All

In a nod to the founder’s love for astrology, the Zodiac signs of Dior, his sister Catherine and of Anderson have been incorporated into the facade design, Arnault revealed. “The wheel on our facade is such a meaningful symbol, and thanks to our location — right at the intersection of Avenue Montaigne and Rue François 1er — it’s incredibly visible,” she noted.

Olivier Bialobos, Dior’s deputy managing director in charge of global communication and image, said while he doesn’t know exactly how many people saw the holiday décor last year, it definitely made an impression.

“One day, I got into a taxi and the driver told me, ‘Right now, the Dior facade is the most popular attraction in Paris after the Eiffel Tower,’ so I took that as a great compliment,” he said. 

“At this point in time, we need to do absolutely everything in our power to make people dream,” he added. “What I love is that when you walk past a facade like the one we’re unveiling tonight, it speaks to everyone: children, older people, women, men. It’s truly for all.”

The store’s window displays play with scale, toggling between a giant gilded butterfly and pint-sized elements, including a dollhouse with shadow figures evoking seamstresses in the haute couture workshop, and a replica salon where high jewelry nestles on miniature furniture overgrown with moss.

In the store’s winter garden, rows of fir trees are decorated with gilded emblems, some in the shape of Dior’s dog Bobby, while a large Pegasus statue lights up the indoor garden of its atrium café Le Jardin. 

Bialobos said he dreams of one day producing Dior-themed Christmas tree baubles for sale. “I’ve been trying to make it happen for years, but I haven’t been able to find a supplier who can produce it to the right scale and at a reasonable cost,” he said.

Yannick Alléno, who in September succeeded Jean Imbert as the chef in residence at the Avenue Montaigne flagship, has created his first limited-edition Christmas log cake for the house. Inspired by the Francis Poulenc dress designed by Dior in 1950, it’s available beginning Dec. 15 exclusively and by reservation at Le Jardin. 

Bialobos said the chef got the idea after visiting the Dior archives. “When I first saw the sketches, I thought, ‘Yes, this could work.’ But when I saw the end result, I was absolutely blown away,” he said.

A Moveable Feast

It’s the second year in a row that Dior has repurposed elements from its Saks extravaganza, highlighting the importance of the core Dior codes. Elements of the décor have also been used in the Beverly Hills store, and will travel to the House of Dior flagship due to open in Beijing on Dec. 11. 

At the Dubai Mall, a gingerbread tree more than 32 feet tall will go up on Dec. 10, echoing the brand’s blockbuster Christmas-time takeover of Harrods in London in 2022. The gingerbread theme has also been reprised at the recently inaugurated Dior boutique in New York City. 

In tandem, the house has created virtual experiences at its boutiques worldwide, with QR codes in its windows revealing highlights of Dior’s history through interactive stars. Selfie filters surround faces with a constellation of stars or animated cookies, while at 30 Montaigne, an AR feature sets the illuminated ferris wheel in motion. 

“What we’re trying to do now is give our major flagships, or recently opened stores, a slightly unique, distinctive décor, and rotate them. Some people might have seen the gingerbread theme at Harrods on social media, but our customers in Dubai are not familiar with it,” Bialobos said. “Every time we bring these concepts to a new destination, it’s a huge success.”

This tailor-made approach has temporarily replaced the idea of massive store takeovers. “Maybe one day we’ll return to other department stores like Galeries Lafayette, where we’ve done it in the past,” Bialobos said.

In the meantime, the baroque bestiary of the “Enchanted World” has taken up residence indoors and outdoors at Dior stores including its temporary locations in Bangkok and Seoul, while the pristine white facade of its flagship in Seoul, designed by Christian de Portzamparc, has been customized with a temporary gold stencil of its Dioresque Stella motif.

The design, by Italian artist Pietro Ruffo, also features on the brand’s holiday packaging and its new home collection, alongside the Dioresque Butterfly pattern. Popular for holiday gifting, tableware this season includes new Dior Cristal goblets and candleholders, available beginning Nov. 19. 

Ruffo also worked on the packaging for the “Dior’s Circus of Dreams” holiday beauty campaign starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Deva Cassel. Given his close association with Chiuri, the brand’s visual language will likely be overhauled next year. 

“It will definitely evolve, but the codes themselves remain the same. And I’m sure Jonathan Anderson, with his creativity and his sense of humor, is already eager to dive into Christmas. Next year, he’ll come with a bunch of ideas — as he always does — to challenge the teams and celebrate the season in his own way, with the Dior codes,” Bialobos said.