Dior Maison SS19

It’s a tricksy thing, Toile de Jouy, like a double agent for tradition. Quaint and conservative at face value, somehow these intricate illustrations stir within us a nostalgia for a past we never knew, tributes to aristocrats and peasants all the more absorbing for their one-color rendering. But often, buried deep within the halcyon scenes, a subversive surprise will reveal itself to those who look hard enough.

Dior Maison puts this enchanting mix to the fore within its latest capsule line, using the same painterly prints that Maria Grazia Chiuri coined for Cruise 2019. In fact, Dior’s affinity for the motif goes back to the first days of the house, when Christian Dior commissioned decorator Victor Grandpierre to use it to cover the walls of his boutique at 30 Avenue Montaigne. The pretty rebellion of her interpretation scores wildlife exotic to the French countryside they inhabit, Rasch trees rustling with monkeys, a lion in a violent wrestle with its serpent prey. In crimson, marine blue, green and black, the motif makes its way onto every interior accessory thinkable, from scalloped dinner plates to tablecloths, trinket trays, candles and hand painted cushions. The beauty of toile is that more is more – seeing the stories on repeat only draws you in further. And that, there, is the danger; is death by toile a thing? Because that’s all that will stop us ordering one in every color. Even then, we might take a chance.