Inside OMA's new Dior exhibition in Shanghai

The Fosun Foundation has opened Miss Dior: Stories of a Miss, an exhibition designed by OMA and Shohei Shigematsu that explores 78 years of Dior's history and influence. Following OMA’s earlier design for the show’s debut at Tokyo’s Roppongi Museum in 2024, the Shanghai edition incorporates local cultural elements and new works by contemporary Chinese artists.

The exhibition spans 6300 square feet across two levels. On the ground floor, the building’s operable facade retracts fully, opening the display to the surrounding city of Zhongshan Road and the Bund. Public spaces, including a cafe, gift shop, and conference center, extend the exhibition’s reach into the plaza, which is anchored by a large-scale reproduction of the 1952 “Bobby” perfume bottle.

Upstairs, six themed galleries present around 200 objects, from archival documents and couture garments to special-edition products and contemporary artworks. The scenography moves between orthogonal and organic geometries, with shifts in materiality and a palette inspired by Miss Dior’s signature pink. Chinese motifs are interwoven into the design, including a paper flower wall, moon gate-like ribbon portals, and landscapes recalling traditional ink-wash paintings, connecting Dior’s legacy with broader artistic and cultural dialogues.

“It is exciting to bring this exhibition to Shanghai, a city with such a dynamic cultural landscape,” OMA partner Shohei Shigematsu said about the scheme. “The thematic environments play with both the aura of Miss Dior and Chinese cultural motifs to create contrasting yet connected spaces that immediately make the essence of the perfume felt and understood. The result is a scenography both rooted in place and extending Miss Dior’s timeless story.”

The exhibition is one of several by OMA related to fashion design. Earlier this year, the firm unveiled an immersive exhibition for Louis Vuitton at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art in Osaka, as well as a travelling Dior exhibit in Seoul. In 2022, the firm completed a 'multidimensional' exhibition for Dior in Japan.