The Flash of a Jewel
Pae White is one of eleven outstanding women to be part of the third edition of the Lady Dior Art— we find out what’s behind her concept for this projectt
It seems only fitting that the third edition for Lady Dior Art be crafted by eleven women of unparalleled talent. Following the direction of creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri, these artists were given utter freedom to interpret Lady Dior as they saw fit, therefore transforming each bag into spectacular works of art. Different walks of life, nationalities and even generations, the Lady Dior crosses borders and so too these eleven artists, pushing the excellence of their craft through the lens of a single bag and a name—interpreted through an artist’s eyes. It was hard to choose a favourite given the bags each have their own beauty, be it bold or with a quiet brilliance. Nonetheless Pae White’s iridescent piece, akin to the glossy exterior of a jewel beetle, has a wild aura to it. With works often described as evanescent and gravity-defying, Pae’s shimmering creations seem to have been reflected best of all in this almost lime green dichroic metallic calfskin Lady Dior handbag decorated with brilliant orange-gold jewellery. The inside, however, is a dark cavern of quilted black velvet, hiding a multitude of charms and stories such as a good luck moon which tell a reverse narrative of the old children’s tale The Spider and the Fly, imbuing the bag with a magical element. “I was thinking about a way to make the bag as an insect, specifically the common green bottle fly,” explains Pae White on the concept behind her creation. “The texture on the exterior derives from a new body of work I am doing, using paper clay to make textured painting or ‘paper tapestries’. I also wanted to have something hidden inside the bag so the owner knows she is carrying around a secret, maybe a little story that’s entertaining and beautiful.”