Let’s hear it for the ladies. Dior has launched the third edition of their Lady Dior art collaboration, featuring 11 incredible female artists including Burcak Bingol, Haruka Kojin, Isabelle Cornaro, Janaina Tschape, Lee Bul, Li Shurui, Mickalene Thomas, Morgane Tschiember, Olga de Amaral, Pae White and Polly Apfelbaum. The women are representative of the broad spectrum of contemporary female artists today, ranging in age and nationalities.

The Lady Dior bag first became notorious thanks to Diana, Princess of Wales. The bag was created with no official name, and was given to Diana by France’s then First Lady, Bernadette Chirac, on her visit to the Cézanne exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris, sponsored by LVMH Group.

Diana immediately ordered the bag in every version. After being photographed with the various colors of the bag on several occasions, the bag was renamed the Lady Dior in 1996 as an homage to her, as she was originally Lady Diana Spencer.

Under the guide of creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri, solely women were chosen for this endeavor to reinterpret the Lady Dior bag. Signature details are still kept intact, such as the stitching pattern inspired by Napoléon III chairs and the D.I.O.R. pendants.

For her particular collaboration, Thomas used abstract faces based on one of her series inspired by Picasso. “I wanted to use images that were very global and universal, but were still reflective of my aesthetic, and also faces of black women,” Thomas said. While the Lady Dior bag has long been associated with British aristocracy, Thomas felt that it was beautiful to finally see the luxury symbol associated with blackness. “This is fantastic because black people are luxurious,” Thomas said. “It makes sense that we are integrated into some of these high art brands and become part of this conversation. It’s important to have the juxtaposition of these discourses continue. You have this hybrid of the high and low, and there’s that conversation because that’s pretty much our world.”

The collective of artists have managed to push the Lady Dior bag into a new era and push the limits of excellence to include fabric, materials, color and additional protective charms. Every detail was reinterpreted according to the desire, aesthetic universe, and imagination of each artist.