BENlabs Unveils Captivating Collaboration with Christian Dior Couture

BENlabs, the global leader in rights clearance and merchandise licensing, unveils latest partnership with Christian Dior Couture for its ambitious spring-summer 2023 Haute Couture Show - which is available to view here. The collection, dreamed up by Dior’s creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri, was inspired by legendary French dancer, singer and actress Josephine Baker and pays homage to the pioneering women who sought to break down racial barriers through performing arts. 

With extensive experience of working with luxury and fashion brands, BENlabs is committed to helping clients tell their brand stories whilst leveraging the power of icons or talents who are associated with their brand or products. A continuation of their longstanding relationship with the legendary fashion house, where they have previously cleared icons such as Grace Kelly and Marlene Dietrich for the J’Adore and Dior Rouge campaigns, BENlabs secured image rights for several cultural icons including Dorothy Dandridge and Nina Simone for use in the hotly anticipated spring-summer show. 

BENlabs obtained permission for these talents and liaised with the icons’ families and/or legal representatives for their images to be featured in visual artist’s Mickalene Thomas’s fantastical staging. Existing photographs of these celebrities were first slightly modified and colourized by the American artist, printed by Dior, and then finally embroidered by the Indian company Chanakya International Pvt. Ltd. with which Dior has already collaborated in the past. 

Presented at the Musée Rodin as part of Paris Fashion Week earlier this year, enlarged images of Baker and other icons including Dorothy Dandridge, Eartha Kitt and Nina Simone, as well as pianist Hazel Scott and model Donyale Luna adorned the walls to pay homage to the breaking down of racial barriers, which artist Mickalene Thomas sought to capture through the ambitious staging. Envisioned specifically for this Dior show, the decor epitomises a new pantheon of women - Black and mixed-race female figures who have become exemplary by choosing to think and act differently.

CREDITS : © ADRIEN DIRAND  © MICKALENE THOMAS © CHANAKYA SCHOOL OF CRAFT © Noir est beau (Marpessa Dawn) © Dispat Films/Tupan Filmes/Photo12 © Courtesy of Tigon Film Distributors Limited © Noir est beau (Dorothy Dandridge) © Evening Standard/Hulton Archives/Getty Image © Bettman/Getty Image © Noir est beau (Eartha Kitt) © Kenn Duncan/© The New York Public Library/Art Resource, NY © Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images © Noir est beau (Nina Simone) © Hulton Archive/Getty Image © Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Image 

In order to secure the image rights, BENlabs ensured it was able to identify and contact talent and photo archives representatives in an efficient manner. Up against a tight deadline, the team successfully  managed to obtain feedback from representatives in six weeks – in time for the fashion show. 

Working closely across a number of family members for each icon, BENlabs ensured that the upcoming project was clearly defined in order for the stakeholders to make a quick decision. Most importantly, in order to get better chances of quick approvals, BENlabs had to accurately convey that the overall project, creative concept and execution would be in line with what the icons stood for in their lifetime. The team also worked with the direct family members of several icons such as Diahann Carroll, Marpessa Dawn and Josephine Premice for example, who were honoured that the fashion house had selected their mothers to be part of such an iconic roster of female pioneers. 

Sonia Boudama, vice president of rights clearances, talents, and movie licensing at BENlabs, comments: “We are immensely proud to have assisted Christian Dior Couture with bringing this mesmerising project to life. Brand stories can of course be told without talents, but when such brand or campaign stories are intrinsically intertwined with those of icons, it adds a layer of authenticity that consumers can relate to and makes a campaign more memorable. We love helping our clients tell their brand stories by clearing the rights they need.”