The saga continues: for six years now, Marion Cotillard has marvelously incarnated the ideal of the Dior woman. The dramatic romance of the 2013 campaign is now followed by one that is freshly romantic. For the iconic Lady Dior bag, the French beauty levitates all the way to glossy paper with charm and elegance in tow. Through the lens of Jean-Baptiste Mondino, Marion Cotillard appears free and insouciant. With an aery grace, she is practically bursting with natural and pondered sensuality. On her arm, the Lady Dior is newly decorated. Made of fuchsia leather, brown crocodile skin, or dressed in floral and graphic prints, the icon never ceases to transform: “Elegant and timeless, it’s always a matter of renewing it in a surprising and creative way.” This year, the accent is on femininity; a femininity that is incarnated both in colors and prints. The iconic bag’s new interpretations reveal an interesting representation of the notion of modern femininity. Just like its muse, the Lady Dior is the spearhead for an elegance that is beyond fashions; free to reinvent itself with a creativity that is always regenerative. This year, Dior is imagining something beautifully ethereal: Marion Cotillard looks nothing short of angelic in a series of delicates dresses. Wrapped in the precious fabrics from the Pre-Fall 2014 collection designed by Raf Simons, the actress represents this distinction, this Dior chic, as if it were all in a day’s work.
A retro, sensual, and subtly sexy campaign shot in black and white – Mondino’s signature. To meet demands, the photographer took inspiration from Philippe Halsman’s jumps. In 1952, when he was photographing the Ford family for the 50th anniversary of their eponymous brand, he had the idea to ask the family’s matriarch to jump in front of the camera. He realized that jumping forced his subjects to abandon the appearance they wanted to give off. Now in 2014, Mondino’s jumps are capturing the arresting grace of Marion imagined as a ballet dancer. Like a ballerina jumping in the air, Cotillard bounces on a trampoline. Dressed in Raf Simons’ delicately feminine creations, on her tiptoes, the muse is captured in various phases of a dance. The grey background draws attention to the main attraction: the new versions of the iconic bag perfected by the actress’ alluringly simple aura. Ultra feminine, Marion Cotillard plays opposite smooth leather versions with floral motifs as well as Princess Diana’s traditional “canange” motif. Jean-Baptiste Mondino succeeds in capturing an undeniably French chic for Dior, often imitated, never replicated. A chic that, just like these shots, brings this bag into the realm of timeless elegance.
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