Graciela Iturbide’s Our Lady of the Iguanas (1979), shot in Oaxaca, Mexico.
(Photo courtesy of Financial Times)
This weekend marks a special chapter for Dior and its parent company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton in Japan.
When Christian Dior opened his eponymous fashion house in 1946, he set a course to become one of the most significant couturiers of the twentieth century. By 1955, eight years after Dior revolutionized the fashion industry with his waist-cinching, fan-skirted New Look dresses, Collier’s Weekly hailed him as “the stout and startled-looking grand vizier of the high-fashion Paris dressmakers” and “the main reason most women look the way they do today.”
The Paris-born luxury house is making its mark far beyond France, expanding its influence to other continents and countries worldwide, with a particular focus on Japan. The giant brand is playing a significant role at the Kyoto Photography Festival by supporting two key exhibitions. Here is the scoop about this exciting event.
French Elegance Meets Japanese Artistry
(Photo courtesy of France Expo Osaka 2025)
Key figures from the luxury powerhouse will be in Osaka to kick off Expo 2025. As a sponsor, LVMH will feature its prestigious brands — Dior, Louis Vuitton, Chaumet, Celine, and Moët Hennessy — in both permanent and temporary exhibitions at the French Pavilion, located at Osaka Bay from this Sunday to October 13.
Dior’s Garden of Fashion
(Photo courtesy of @bahterazar via Instagram)
This Tuesday in Kyoto, Maria Grazia Chiuri will unveil Dior’s pre-fall 2025 collection in the picturesque setting of Tō-ji Temple’s garden. Meanwhile, Dior is not just about fashion this season; they are also supporting the arts through two exhibitions at the Kyotographie International Photography Festival, starting Saturday.
Notably, Dior is sponsoring Graciela Iturbide’s premier major exhibition in Japan, held at the Kyoto City Museum of Art Annex in Sakyo Ward.
A Feminist Lens on Indigenous Life
(Photo courtesy of SFMOMA Museum Store)
The esteemed Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide, whose work is part of collections in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and The J. Paul Getty Museum, captures Indigenous communities with a unique sensitivity informed by direct interaction.
In her eyes, the real magic was not in the snapshot but in the relationships and stories she discovered while traveling, as Iturbide once wholeheartedly shared, “To me it’s more important to get to know the worlds I travel in; this knowledge is so attractive that the photography almost takes second place.”
Six Decades of Artistic Vision
Graciela Iturbide’s Dance, Juchitán, México (1986) is part of the collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
(Photo courtesy of The New York Review of Books)
With a keen eye for female empowerment in her photography, Graciela Iturbide has teamed up with Dior on several occasions. This includes a reportage in Oaxaca for the brand's 2018 cruise collection and a series of photos inspired by Chiuri’s 2024 destination cruise show held in Mexico City.
The exhibition in Kyoto spans nearly six decades of Iturbide’s work, predominantly in black-and-white, showcasing her deep engagement with local communities and her commitment to feminist themes and movements.
Award-Winning Visual Narratives
In a related development, Christian Dior Parfums is collaborating with the Kyotographie satellite event KG+ and is backing an exhibition by Pamela Tulizo, a journalist and documentary photographer from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Through her lens, she brings attention to the lives of Congolese women, capturing their strength and spirit in the face of instability in Eastern Congo. Her impactful vision won her the 2020 Dior Photography and Visual Arts Award for Young Talents. Notable exhibitions include Double Identité at the Lubumbashi Biennial in 2019, and Face to Face in Paris at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in early 2022.
Documenting the Undocumented
Pamela Tulizo’s exhibit at KG+ features 12 newly composed images that reveal the seldom-acknowledged roles of women in the transatlantic slave trade, showcasing them in settings associated with slavery's financial incentives, such as cotton plantations and tobacco fields, along with domestic and exploitative environments.
Christian Dior Parfums emphasized, “With these works, the photographer pays tribute to these forgotten heroines, celebrating their courage, their resilience and their strength, faced with a destiny they knew they could not escape.”
Color as a Medium of Hope
Pamela Tulizo’s 2019 work Double identité (Femmes de Kivu) challenges perception through vivid, thought-provoking portraiture.
(Photo courtesy of True Africa)
For her latest photo series, Tulizo took on the role of costume designer, crafting outfits that complement her storytelling through vibrant colors and dynamic textures. “These bright colors are essential for me, because they bring hope and life to my images,” she explained.
You can catch the Mababu, Spirit of the Ancestors exhibition at Sfera until May 11.
Stay Ahead of the Hottest Fashion News and Trends
Keep your finger on the pulse of the fashion world with ZenLuxe. Our blog brings you the latest and most exciting fashion news to help you stay informed about current trends. Moreover, ZenLuxe offers exclusive access to the world's top fashion houses, including Dior, Cartier, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Prada, to name a few.
You can now treat yourself to original second-hand (or, as we like to say, pre-loved!) fashion items on the ZenLuxe online platform — each piece carefully packed by our professionals and delivered directly to your doorstep.
About The Writer
Meet Mariam — a fashion writer who lives and breathes all things vogue and glamour. For her, the most therapeutic aspect of fashion goes beyond simply shopping for the latest styles that appear in stores; it’s fully experiencing this glamorous world from the little details to the big moments (there's nothing quite like the thrill of flipping through a sleek fashion magazine, is there?).
