Christian Dior : Designer of Dreams – Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Seoul

Distinctions

Discipline : Lighting Design

Categories : Lighting Design / Experiential & Immersive Lighting : Gold certification

This interior lighting project is the ninth major iteration of this travelling exhibition held in the emblematic Zaha Hadid-designed Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul, South Korea which ran from April to July 2025. This followed the success from the debut exhibition in Paris and in other major cities in the world - London, Shanghai, Chengdu, New York, Doha, Tokyo, and Riyadh. This time around, the exhibition showcased over 196 haute couture dresses, 120 “toiles”, and numerous archival documents in the 21,500 square feet area of DDP and features 11 thematic rooms. The scenography is designed by OMA (Shohei Shigematsu) presenting immersive environments which features dramatic, color-coded galleries, gardens, and sculptural structures.

The exhibition showcases the 75 years of the House’s history with their iconic pieces and Dior’s cultural dialogue with the host city. The “New Look” featured South Korea’s own traditional patchwork curtain called “jogakbo”. Illuminating this piece had proven to be challenging and satisfying, several lighting mock-ups had been executed to be able to get the right balance of showcasing this cultural pride and blending it with the thoughtfully curated dresses of the “New Look” era.

Lightemotion was tasked to enhance the storytelling process of the exhibition design as well as encapsulating the brand’s legacy while ensuring to highlight the cultural context of South Korea.

The main challenge is illuminating such delicate artifacts in this exhibition. Lightemotion has applied the 50-lux limit to protect the artifacts from light damage while creating distinct ambience for each of the themed spaces. With layers of lighting, it enabled us to delicately and strategically control the lighting needed for each item in the space. Using low voltage, museum-quality fixtures with low UV emission, it provided precise beam control when needed, and impeccable color rendering for sculpting & highlighting the artifacts. Same fixtures were used to illuminate encased artifacts and were carefully integrated in the set design. Lightemotion had also considered glare control and contrast ratios to enhance viewing comfort and create seamless dialogue between fashion and the space; linear LED strips were also used to visually detach set designs and accentuate them while providing wayfinding context for the visitors. In cue with AV projections in some spaces, lighting intensity was controlled by the use of DMX enabled light fixtures and DMX lighting control system.

The Dior brand had always prioritized their commitment to environment and sustainability standards requiring materials and design to be eco-friendly. One step that the team had undertaken is to locally rent some of the light fixtures to cutout carbon emissions. 

The exhibition is a traveling retrospective with social impact - providing cultural exchange and inspiration by showcasing their artistry, culture, and heritage, this time, in South Korea’s fast developing fashion landscape.

The project in images