Nan Kempner is said to have fallen in love with Dior in 1958, when the San Francisco-born couture collector traveled to Paris with her mother to shop for clothes. Kempner’s early love of the French fashion house has since been shared by countless Bay Area style-setters, all of whom now have immediate access to the house’s ready-to-wear, shoes, bags, accessories, and considerable jewelry and watch collections—for Dior has returned to Union Square, this time alighting on Post Street. The new shop, encased in a glass curtain that hovers above the multilayered building’s original architecture, includes two floors devoted to women’s designs (Dior formerly occupied a Stockton Street space some years ago). Inside, passersby and devoted acolytes alike can also have a look at works by a slew of contemporary artists who created pieces for the new boutique. A mirror made of chrome patinated steel bolts by French furniture designer Laurent Chauvat hangs amid displays of fine jewelry, French visual artist Yoram Mevorach, known as Oyoram, created a arresting video wall visible from the shop’s staircase, and American glass sculptor Rob Wynne’s mirror installation hangs in the shoe salon. The space is thoroughly modern, yet the intricate craftsmanship of the looks inside evokes Dior’s historic place in the pantheon of international fashion houses.

By Elizabeth Varnell

Pictured: The new Dior boutique on Post Street in San Francisco.
Photo by Kristen Pelou

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