This June, the Roppongi Museum in Tokyo is hosting an exhibition titled "Miss Dior: Stories of a Miss." Designed by OMA/Shohei Shigematsu, the display presents the 78-year legacy of the renowned Miss Dior perfume, which was launched alongside Dior's revolutionary "The New Look" in 1946. Organized as a journey through seven rooms, the exhibition design features not only the perfume and related memorabilia but also explores the various inspirations and collaborations that have shaped its cultural significance.
The exhibits range from historical items to modern-day pieces, haute couture to everyday fashion, original creations to playful replicas, art references to artist interpretations, and classic designs to contemporary advertising campaigns. The aim is not to tell a linear story but to reveal the multifaceted interactions and narratives surrounding the perfume's history. Each of the seven rooms showcases a different aspect, with environments employing a diversity of materials and geometries to materialize the ephemeral qualities of the fragrance.
The first room, "Miss Dior: Stories of a Miss" serves as a preview of what the exhibition holds, showcasing artifacts and small-scale reproductions. Next, the "Miss Dior by Eva Jospin" space features a domed space inspired by classical architecture, enhanced with embroidered tapestries by artist Eva Jospin. At its center, a single vitrine displays a special edition of the Miss Dior perfume designed by Jospin. The exhibition continues with "Fields of Flowers," where visitors experience the five floral scents of the latest Miss Dior perfume through flower-shaped atomizers in a room reminiscent of couture fabric.
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Architecture Inspiring Fashion: Villa Malaparte, the Eiffel Tower, and Louis Kahn’s Salk Institute Host Runway ShowsIn the "Stories of a Miss" room, a ribbon motif traces the history of Miss Dior, while the next space, "Miss Dior: The Birth of Ready-to-Wear" celebrates Dior's first ready-to-wear line from 1967 with vibrant, geometric displays. "Dior Illustrated" features life-size prints by illustrators René Gruau and Mats Gustafson, and the exhibition finished with "The Miss Dior Dream," combining couture garments, artworks, and designer perfume bottles in an immersive landscape. The exhibition has been designed by OMA Partner Shohei Shigematsu, Associate Christy Cheng, and Project Architect Jan Casimir, with a team at OMA New York.
Conceiving a space to experience something as immaterial as a scent was an interesting challenge, but Miss Dior represents a core identity of the Maison shaped by a multitude of stories behind the fragrance. To reflect the diverse contents, auras, and narratives, we designed the exhibition to reveal new perspectives of timeless iconographies and draw new threads across distinct themes. Significant motifs and inspirations are translated into surreal environments transporting viewers into the world of Miss Dior. - Shohei Shigematsu, Partner, OMA
As a complex field, architecture often interacts with many other creative fields, including set design, exhibition, cinematography and fashion. Recently, several internationally recognized fashion brands have taken inspiration from famous works of architecture, using them as not only backgrounds for their shows but as elements that bring coherence to the entire collection. Earlier this year, AMO, the research, branding and publication studio of OMA, has also revealed their set design for Prada's 2024 Fall/Winter Menswear Show, a juxtaposition of office and natural landscapes organized in the OMA-designed Foundation Prada in Milano.
Project Credits:
- Partner-in-Charge: Shohei Shigematsu
- Associate: Christy Cheng
- Project Architect: Jan Casimir
- Team: Baiyang Kong, Timothy Ho, Francesca Parmiggiani, Christine Dopple
