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The Medallion chair transcends utility, according to Dior. Image Credit: Supplied

The 60th edition of Salone del Mobile 2022, which opened on June 7 and will run until June 12, is the biggest trade fair of its kind that celebrates creativity in the world of furniture. Naturally, given the influence that the fair has, it’s unsurprising that several large brands are making their presence felt at the event.

For instance, Dior, exclusively for the event, teamed up with French industrial architect and designer Philippe Starck to reinterpret the iconic Medallion chair. The Medallion chair represents the style favoured by Louis XVI and is apparently dear to Dior.

Philippe Starck
The Dior Medallion chair is the brainchild of celebrated industrial designer Philippe Starck. Image Credit: Supplied

The internationally renowned creator took this inspiration to the limit and created a chair dubbed Miss Dior – “a tribute to a certain kind of femininity, imbued with bold elegance”.

The ethos is that has driven the creative process is “passion du minimum”. Starck refined the structure of the famous seat, and pushed the envelope, in an attempt to achieve absolute purity of its silhouette, “emphasised even more by the lightness of aluminium, as well as its precious simplicity.”

The piece is crafted in Italy and reflects the French designer’s “desire to explore the legend embodied in his eyes by the Medallion chair, to reveal its quintessence, its ‘backbone‘, through three exceptional models.”

While there are questions that whether something that is utilitarian could ever be art? Dior claims that Starck: “Elevated [it] to the status of a work of art, this ultimately elegant creation is available in a variety of shades – polished or satinated – such as black chromium, pink copper or gold.”

While these can we viewed in the heart of Palazzo Citterio, Milan, they will also be available in a selection of Dior boutiques from the end of the year.