The prestigious UBS House of Craft x Dior is set to arrive in Singapore within a week, a full exhibition exploring Dior at the heart of haute couture fashion for eight decades, complete with strong scope, ambition, and emotional resonance. After its resounding New York debut in June 2025, the Asian edition brings an enriched program to the New Art Museum Singapore, part of Whitestone Gallery, from November 21–23.

The exhibition promises an intimate portrait of craftsmanship as a living dialogue between eras, creators, and cultures. This chapter of UBS House of Craft x Dior delves deeper than any previous iteration into the Maison’s remarkable lineage. For the first time in Asia, the exhibition celebrates the complete spectrum of Dior’s artistic leadership, from Christian Dior’s revolutionary New Look to the designers who successively shaped and reshaped the Maison: Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Raf Simons, and Maria Grazia Chiuri, with a dedicated tribute to Kim Jones.

All this is thanks to the combined artistry of curator Carine Roitfeld and photographer Brigitte Niedermair. Roitfeld’s curatorial vision is at the heart of this revelation. Known for her inimitable editorial instinct, she frames the exhibition not as a retrospective, but as a living, breathing narrative that unfolds with each garment, each juxtaposition.

Curating UBS House of Craft x Dior felt a little like editing a magazine, except this time, the story walks with you. I wanted visitors to feel the pulse of couture, to understand that craft is not nostalgia, but something alive – breathing through each stitch and silhouette. Dior has always been about femininity, but also strength and structure; the idea of a woman both elegant and daring,” says Roitfeld.

The full exhibition makes her intent unmistakable, as eras overlay, designers converse, and silhouettes collide in unexpected harmony. “When Brigitte and I began, we didn’t separate eras or designers. We allowed them to speak to one another. A Monsieur Dior jacket over a Galliano gown, a whisper of Bohan’s restraint beside Maria Grazia’s modernity – it’s a dialogue between past and present. Couture is, after all, a laboratory where beauty and rebellion coexist,” she adds.

Singapore’s cultural vibrancy further amplifies that creative interplay. “In Singapore, surrounded by its energy and cultural depth, this story feels even more alive. There is the same respect for tradition, the same obsession with detail. I hope people see not just the glamor, but the humanity – the hands, the patience, the imagination behind every piece. True luxury is time, emotion and the courage to create something that will still move you tomorrow.”

Brigitte Niedermair’s on the other hand, offers an entirely new understanding of its scale and meditative power. Niedermair’s photographs form the emotional architecture of the exhibition. Drawing from Dior’s vast archives, she selected and reimagined pieces that represent each artistic director’s unique vocabulary: capturing them through her analog, sculptural lens. “Photography, for me, is a dialogue between body and object, between time and meaning. When I look at Dior, I don’t see garments frozen in history; I see gestures, traces of hands, conversations between creators across decades. Each piece carries the weight of human touch and the lightness of imagination. In this exhibition, I wanted to reveal that tension between material and spirit, between the visible and the felt,” says Niedermair.

Her skill with depth and stillness of her images invite viewers into what she calls a “cathedral of craft.” “Working with Dior’s archives felt like entering a cathedral of craft. You move slowly, you listen. Through my lens, I sought to transform fabric into form, and form into feeling, so that the viewer can almost sense the breath within the couture. My use of analog photography mirrors the patience of the atelier: every exposure, a single act of devotion,” says Niedermair.

Her collaboration with Roitfeld becomes palpable in the exhibition’s final composition. “Carine’s instinctive styling met my structured gaze like two opposing forces finding rhythm. Together, we tried to let the images breathe beyond fashion, to speak of womanhood, transformation and continuity.,” she says. “What endures, I believe, is not just beauty, but the conversation between the past and the present – and the courage to keep that dialogue alive.”

With the exhibition offering a singular opportunity to encounter the artistry and legacy of Dior through a fresh, contemporary lens, it promises to honour the timeless elegance and forward-looking spirit that both UBS and Dior share. For the first time in Asia, UBS House of Craft x Dior brings together the defining eras of the Maison’s eight-decade history, spanning the visionary Christian Dior and the six artistic directors who have shaped its evolution: Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Raf Simons, and Maria Grazia Chiuri—“the Magnificent Seven,” with a special tribute to Kim Jones, something all fashion lovers and aesthetes will be sure to enjoy.

Jin Yee Young, Co-Head UBS Global Wealth Management Asia Pacific and Country Head UBS Singapore, reflects on the significance of the exhibition and showing it in Singapore: “UBS is delighted to present the Asia debut of UBS House of Craft x Dior in Singapore, a global metropolis rich in culture and history. Singapore’s intersection of heritage and innovation provides a distinctive backdrop for celebrating craftsmanship at the highest level, sparking dialogue and discovery. We are delighted to partner with Dior and Carine Roitfeld to present the expanded exhibition, paying homage to the heritage of Dior and UBS as well as showcasing the precision, dedication, and artistry that define our own craft.”

Through Roitfeld’s narrative instinct, Niedermair’s photographic devotion, and UBS’s commitment to excellence, the exhibition becomes a continuation of a dialogue between tradition and reinvention, technique and imagination, archive and innovation. UBS House of Craft x Dior delivers the depth behind that promise: a tactile, emotional, and conceptual journey through couture’s past, present, and evolving future.

Photo Credit: Marie-Laure Dutel

UBS House of Craft x Dior will open to the public from 21st to 23rd November 2025 at the New Art Museum Singapore. Registration will be free and open to the public here. More information on UBS House of Craft can be found here