Milan Design Week 2025: French designer Sam Baron on reimagining Dior Maison’s heritage

The resulting pieces unfold like a stroll through an enchanted garden. Branches, leaves and imaginary blooms twist in organic forms across vessels and candlesticks, shimmering with delicate striations that catch and diffuse light. Transparency becomes a vital element, animating the glass surfaces with a sense of movement and life. Each object balances sculptural presence with narrative subtlety, reflecting Baron’s belief that design should tell stories. Presented in limited editions—a nod to Monsieur Dior’s lucky number, eight—the Ode à la Nature collection is a luminous homage to nature’s perpetual inspiration and Dior’s timeless art of living.

At Milan Design Week 2025, Tatler Homes speaks with designer Sam Baron on reimagining Dior Maison’s heritage through a poetic celebration of nature and craftsmanship. 

What first sparked the idea for Ode à la Nature, and how did your creative dialogue with Dior Maison unfold from there?
I have always been a nature lover. Growing up in the countryside, nature has been an intrinsic part of my life. In a way, this connection made me feel comfortable and allowed me to deeply admire Monsieur Dior’s work.

Although our practices differ—he in fashion, and I in design—we share a common love of art. Monsieur Dior began as an art gallerist before becoming a fashion designer, while I find inspiration by losing myself in museums to relax and recharge. 

Nature has consistently been a vital source of inspiration for humanity. From the Middle Ages to today, we have always turned to our environments for guidance and creativity. Botanical motifs were among the first patterns to appear across cultures, linking us all in a timeless dialogue with nature.

The duck-shaped carafe feels both playful and rooted in history. How did you come across this motif in the Dior archives?
While researching Dior’s legacy and past creations, I was invited to spend several hours in the Dior archives department, reviewing everything that Monsieur Dior had produced for his lifestyle collections. As the project I envisioned for Dior Maison centred around nature, I initially focused on plants and flowers.

However, at a certain moment, a photograph of two glass wild ducks was shown to me. They were incredibly expressive, almost as if they were looking back at me. It made me realise that nature is not only botanical—it also embraces the animal world. I decided to introduce an animal element hidden among the botanical-inspired pieces—something that would catch the viewer’s eye and, quite naturally, bring a smile to their face.

This collection echoes Dior’s design heritage. How did you navigate that legacy?
A designer always responds to a brief or a question. The first step in collaborating with Dior was to absorb the maison’s culture as well as references. 

By becoming familiar with what has been created and understanding the main ideas developed across fashion garments and objects, you can then design authentically for their universe. and to navigate it freely, letting the wind blow through the sails of your imaginary boat.

In a way, it almost becomes natural to act as the hand that might realise what Monsieur Dior himself would have envisioned.

I must also say there is a kind of relaxed, unruled elegance paired with a strong sense of narrative in Dior’s work—something that closely aligns with my own imagination, making this collaboration a very natural pairing. 

How did those details emerge?
The visual components of this project stem from the glass technique itself and from selected Dior references, such as the first Dior fragrance bottle, the intricate embroideries on dresses, and the magnificent bouquets that surrounded Monsieur Dior. 

I integrated these inspirations into my imagination to create a narrative that feels contemporary and modern, yet retains a strong sense of poetry and sculptural presence. Glass, as a material, has a magic of its own, being an excellent light catcher and turning the pieces into something truly magical.

How does this collection express Dior Maison’s l’art de vivre and your own design philosophy? 
At Dior Maison, each piece carries a strong sense of decor. They are not anonymous objects created solely for function; they must evoke a story and a sense of place. 

I personally love how artefacts can transmit emotions, express a moment, and reveal an intention. I believe design is a way to communicate through objects. That is why I feel this collaboration with Dior Maison is such a natural pairing, where shared philosophies and creative visions seamlessly come together.

After this project, do you see new creative directions opening up with Dior Maison?
Yes, it seems that the very warm and positive reactions from visitors and clients show that the pieces point towards a strong direction for Dior Maison. They honour its legacy while being “remastered” in a way that resonates with the époque we are living in.

The collection is a homage to the nature that was so dear to Monsieur Dior, and at the same time, it addresses a concern that feels very current to all of us. We created fantasy flowers—where you cannot easily distinguish if the petals are from a lily or a rose, or whether the leaves belong to an ivy or a morel. The same idea applies to the branches, making the project universal and almost conceptual.

It goes beyond classical representation and elevates Dior as the botanical homewares master. From my side, this project was truly intense, a brief yet sincere presentation. It is an experience I will always carry with me.

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