Where better to showcase their latest high jewelry collection?
There are few places more magical than Venice — and few brands better suited to that level of luxury than Dior. So naturally, for their newest high jewelry launch, Diorissima, there’s nowhere better than La Serenissima, with all the glittering excess of a Visconti fever dream,as the setting. Black tie at Palazzo del Casinò on Lido Island? Check! Jewels inspired by underwater fantasy worlds and celestial hallucinations? Even better.
The trip itself reads like someone’s once in a lifetime fantasy. We checked into the newly opened Orient Express hotel, where the romance of train-travel nostalgia collides with the sort of polished glamour that practically demands a silk robe and a pair of Pied-A-Terre Venetian velvet slippers. From there, it’s a quick boat ride across the lagoon to possibly one of the most stunning venues ever — Palazzo del Casinò for the main event.
Designed by Victoire de Castellane, Diorissima feels less like a jewellery collection and more like stepping inside someone’s exceptionally stylish subconscious. Since 1999, Castellane has transformed Christian Dior’s legacy into something delightfully surreal, and this season she leans fully into fantasy. Three worlds emerge in sequence: overgrown gardens dripping in clover and wisteria, aquatic kingdoms swirling with coral and electric-blue gemstones, and celestial dreamscapes punctuated by eclipses, suns and improbably joyful clouds.
The craftsmanship is, naturally, outrageous. Doublet stones layer opal over chrysoprase for hypnotic colour gradations, lacquer glows with almost liquid intensity, and every necklace, brooch, and earcuff seems to vibrate with the kind of maximalist joy fashion desperately needs right now. As a side note, not only was the jewelry special, but the dresses shown with it were also exceptional! Venice, Dior, impossible jewels — honestly, why are we not all billionaires?
