The New ‘Miss Dior’ Exhibition In Tokyo Is A Treat For Fashion And Fragrance Lovers Alike

The immersive ‘Miss Dior, Stories of a Miss’ exhibition has heritage couture, archival objects and new artworks, all inspired by the history of the iconic fragrance.

By Annabelle Fernandez - published 15 Jun 2024

Miss Dior was the first perfume from the House of Dior, launched alongside Christian Dior’s first collection in 1947. An ode to his beloved sister, Catherine Dior, Monsieur Dior called it the perfume of love.

Fast forward to 2024 and I’m in Tokyo for a preview of the Miss Dior, Stories of a Miss exhibition. Running from 17 June to 15 July at Roppongi Museum, the immersive exhibition takes you on a deep dive into the history of the iconic fragrance by bringing together a collection of heritage couture and ready-to-wear pieces, artefacts from the Maison’s archives—including some that have never been shown outside of Paris—and artworks created by a roster of international artists.

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Journey of a Bow

We were lucky enough to have Frédéric Bourdelier, Director of Brand Culture and Heritage for Christian Dior Parfums, take us through the exhibition. Bourdelier kicked off our tour by saying, “First, I want to show you the first Miss Dior logo. It’s like a ribbon and, step by step, we will follow the ribbon to jump into the past or the future of Miss Dior.”

The bow is synonymous with Miss Dior; every bottle of the fragrance comes with a ribbon tied around it. So, it’s only apt that your journey through the exhibition begins this way. In the first room is a wall inlaid with items related to the past and present of the perfume, from archival photos and illustrations to advertisements.

Christian Dior’s love for flowers is well known. His mother, Madeleine Dior, tended to the garden at his childhood home in Normandy, Villa les Rhumbs, and both Christian and Catherine inherited her passion for flowers and gardens. The second room of the exhibition is an embroidered floral garden made of tapestry—another passion of Christian Dior.

Created by French visual artist Eva Jospin in collaboration with artisans in the Indian Chanakya workshops in Mumbai, the embroidered walls, composed of flowers and foliage in spring colours, are the first sign visitors get that the exhibition focuses not just on the fragrance, but also on the art of couture. In the centre of the room, under the occulus, is the new limited edition Miss Dior bottle, designed by Jospin with the bow matching the tapestry on the walls.

Couture Creations

Christian Dior considered himself a couturier-perfumer. He famously said: “Perfume is the most important compliment to a woman’s personality, it is the finishing touch of a dress.” Taking pride of place in the third room is the eponymous Miss Dior haute couture gown, created in the ateliers of 30 avenue Montaigne in 1949, two years after the launch of the fragrance. Adorned with a thousand embroidered silk flowers, it is said to be inspired by the elegance of Miss Dior and its floral composition.

Behind the dress are five pink flower buds, with buttons on the floor beneath them. Step on the button to release a whiff of the scents within: jasmine, rose, tuberose, orange blossom and sambac jasmine; all personally selected by Francis Kurkdjian, Director of Perfume Creation for the House of Dior.

In addition to the couture gown designed by Christian Dior, a highlight of the exhibition is a dreamlike room showcasing six dresses worn by the face of Miss Dior, Natalie Portman, in her fragrance campaigns through the years; intricately embroidered haute couture gowns created by past and present Dior designers, Raf Simons and Maria Grazia Chuiri.

Next to the gowns are prestige editions of the fragrance, as well as photos, paintings and sculptures created especially for the exhibition by six female artists: Japanese artists Etsu Egami, Yukimasa Ida and Haruka Kojin; French designer Sabine Marcelis; Chinese artist Liang Yuanwei and Italian photographer Brigitte Niedermair.

There’s also a room dedicated to the Miss Dior ready-to-wear line, created in 1967 in Paris by Marc Bohan and exhibited internationally for the first time. The colours of the clothes are vivid and vibrant, and the walls of the room are covered in the equally striking Miss Dior logo. “In 1967, we created our first ready-to-wear line after 20 years of haute couture. We used the name of ‘Miss Dior’ because after the name of Christian Dior himself, the most famous name in the ‘60s concerning Dior was Miss Dior, because the fragrance was internationally known,” added Bourdelier.

From the Archives

Also on exhibit for the first time outside Paris are a curation of objects and documents pertaining to the history of Miss Dior, with almost 150 historical items lining the walls as you follow the ribbon and enter a black room lit up by a pink spiral.

Bourdelier shared, “You have some documents of Catherine Dior and really, Miss Dior is a tribute to Catherine; it’s probably the best gift that a brother can [give] his sister, to offer an eternal bouquet of flowers, that’s what Miss Dior is for Catherine.” Standouts include Catherine’s original possessions, such as a typewriter, on which she wrote memos as a member of the French resistance; a black straw hat lined with rose print fabric, and an autographed copy of Christian Dior’s autobiography.

Pro tip: As you leave this room, make sure to turn back and take one last look at the wall at the opposite end. That’s when you can best see the silhouette of Christian Dior in the painting below the portraits of his two muses, his mother Madeleine and his sister Catherine.

Before he became a couturier, Christian Dior was a gallery owner. So it was only natural that he asked his friend, artist René Gruau, to create the first illustrations and advertisements for Miss Dior. Inside a room lined in pink from floor to ceiling, these archival prints are displayed on one wall, while the other wall is lined with illustrations of Maria Grazia Chuiri’s designs by Swedish artist Mats Gustafson. “It’s a dialogue between two great illustrators that we love, with fifty years of difference,” summed up Bourdelier.

Take a Bow

What’s a visit to an exhibition without a stop by the boutique? Conclude your journey by browsing through products ranging from perfumes to makeup and skincare essentials, as well as books about the heritage of House.

Last but certainly not least, is the Miss Dior Cafe, where you can look forward to miniature desserts that nod to flowers and scents. Created in collaboration with Pierre Hermé, this includes limited-edition macarons to commemorate the occasion.

I asked Bourdelier what he hopes visitors will take away from the exhibition. “First of all, emotions. It’s about fragrance, it’s about couture; it’s about emotions: ‘Why am I so attracted to this piece of art, this document, this photo, this dress?’

“Miss Dior is for us a tribute to love, a declaration of love; that was the original message in 1947. In a grey atmosphere, you have some sparks of joy, and that’s why it is our dream that at the end of this exhibition, people say “Wow, it was a magic moment,” and we share not only the values and codes of the brand, but also a moment of emotion.”

I posed the same question to Natalie Portman, who was also in Tokyo to celebrate the opening of exhibition. She replied, “I think it’s such a journey through the senses, and I’m excited for [visitors] to go on that journey, because you’re carried through a world of sound, touch, visuals, and then of scent, and it’s such a sensory journey.”

To embark on your own sensory journey through the Miss Dior: Stories of a Miss exhibition, be sure to make a reservation before heading down. Reservations are limited to one person at a time, and must be made via the official Dior Beauty LINE account.