A series of vast inflatable sculptures, appearing in pop-up stores around the world, will herald the arrival of Dior Tears – a collaboration between the Parisian house and American designer Tremaine Emory’s cult 2019-founded label Demin Tears.
Created alongside Kim Jones, Dior’s menswear creative director, the collaboration was first presented among ancient antiquities as a ’tableau vivant’ at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo last December (the next evening, Dior would host its Fall 2023 show against the backdrop of the Giza pyramids).
Dior Tears launches with inflatable-filled pop-ups
The various pop-ups – which begin with an opening in London’s Soho this weekend (8 July 2023) – mark the first opportunity to purchase the collection, inspired by the history of jazz. ’A dialogue between New York and Paris, via New Orleans,’ describe the house, encompassing the ‘elegant and the idiosyncratic, the casual and the classic.’
It seems fitting, then, that the London pop-up is entered through Phonica Records, a buzzing independent record store on Poland Street. Customers will be led down into the vast basement space where ‘Dior Tears’-emblazoned inflatables are projected with moving animations and shadows of figures, while midcentury furniture – arranged like a living room – reflects the preppy, collegiate inspirations which infuse parts of the collection.
Emory – who joined Supreme as creative director in February 2022 – has also created a special playlist for the space, while a record deck suggests live events will follow (on 8 July 2023, Jones will host a cocktail to celebrate the space’s opening). The combined effect, says Dior, is to create ‘an inhabited, alternative universe, where sounds, shadows and lights are perceived differently – as if filtered – conveying a strange, poetic atmosphere’.
The London pop-up will remain open until 13 July 2023, with temporary stories in Tokyo (11-30 July), Seoul (13-22 July), and Shanghai (15-25 July) to follow. Each will feature inflatables, though the design of the various pop-ups will be distinct.
Denim – as might be expected – is at the basis of the collection itself, here elevated with jacquard and discharge prints in techniques made possible by the Dior atelier (’American homespun meets French high craft,’ describe the notes). Elsewhere, Ivy League inspirations – drawn from photographs from the 1950s and 1960s – meet the style of jazz musicians from the same period. Alongside riffs on varsity jackets, chinos, wool overcoats and plaid shirts, new versions of the Dior Saddle and Lingot bags are reimagined in denim.
‘An exceptional encounter at the crossroads of art and fashion, eras and cultures,’ says Dior of the pop-up spaces, which are completed with digital works from Japanese flower artist Makoto Azuma (who has previously created botanical sculptures for Dior Parfums), which can be downloaded via a special QR code.
The Dior Tears London pop-up is open from 8 – 13 July 2023 at Phonica Records, Poland Street.
