Meet the Artists Behind the 40,000 Paper Flowers in Dior’s Les Arts Décoratifs Installation

Wanda Barcelonas Paper Flower Installation for Dior at Les Arts Dcoratifs
Wanda Barcelona’s Paper Flower Installation for Dior at Les Arts DécoratifsPhoto: Courtesy of Wanda Barcelona / Dior

Since 2012, Wanda Barcelona has been the design group behind the hyperreal paper flowers and plants at Dior exhibitions and events around the world. “The first time we worked with Dior was when they invited us to participate in their traveling exhibition ‘As Seen By,’ where we got to do our own personal reinterpretation of the iconic Lady Dior bag,” says Inti Velez Botero, one-third of the group.

To boot, the trio (made up of Botero, Daniel Mancini, and Iris Joval) has also created installations for Hermès, Karl Lagerfeld, Comme des Garçons, Colette, Zara, and events at Cannes since they founded their company in 2007. But the latest project from the Barcelona-based group might just be the most stunning yet: gorgeous paper blooms that resemble wisteria and lily of the valley hanging over some of Dior’s most beautiful gowns of all time at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. The exhibition opened earlier this month, and to say Wanda Barcelona’s blooms are a main fixture of the exhibition would be an understatement.

Photo: Courtesy of Wanda Barcelona / Dior

When it comes to creating their intricate installations, Botero acts as the architect, Mancini is considered the designer, and Joval is the artist. Here, the group talks about their inspirations and why, sometimes, paper flowers are better than real flowers.

What inspired you in terms of the creating the installation at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs?Our source of inspiration when working for Dior, already for more than six years, has been the gardens of Christian Dior. His passion for gardening led him to have the most incredible gardens in his houses and these same gardens were a source of inspiration for his designs, different gowns, textures, and prints.

For this specific project, we had to cover the ceiling of the museum, so we looked for different creeping and climbing plants that were found in his gardens. We bought all of them and took them to our studio—we observed them and tried to simulate their form and movement with paper. Finally, we selected wisteria japonica, creeping jenny, clematis armandii, mind your own business (or baby’s tears), rose bushes, and Monsieur Dior´s favorite—lily of the valley.

Photo: Courtesy of Wanda Barcelona / Dior

What was the process like?There were quite a few months of investigation, and there were more than four trips to Paris with different prototypes and plants until finally, we came up with this selection. Once this has decided, we had to draw everything and start laser cutting like crazy. Then, every single flower and leaf was folded and glued by hand. Afterward, comes the packaging, which is a lot of work, and finally the rigging, which took 20 days.

Is everything done by hand?Yes, the initial prototypes and all the designs are made by hand. Then, when everything is approved, it gets traced and laser cut. Once we have everything cut, we proceed to assemble, glue, fold, curve, and craft all the different plants and flowers.

Photo: Courtesy of Wanda Barcelona / Dior

How many paper flowers did you create for your most recent Dior exhibition?We cut more than 7,000 sheets of paper to produce more than 40,000 plants, including 4,500 roses, 4,500 clematises, 1,400 lilies of the valley, and 700 wisteria vines.

Is there a specific kind of paper you use to make your designs?Normally, we work with our favorite Japanese, German, French, and Italian papers, but in this case, as the exhibition was held inside a museum, we had to use fire-resistant papers of the most demanding security standards to guarantee the safety of the gowns. We had a very nice paper from a very traditional paper mill right here in Barcelona. They’re the pioneers in this kind of paper worldwide.

Photo: Courtesy of Wanda Barcelona / Dior

What inspired your other projects with Hermès and Karl Lagerfeld?Our sources of inspiration vary enormously. We get constant inspiration from art, films, architecture, nature, and sometimes even music. We are constant world travelers in search of different cultures to learn from their aesthetics. And it’s there, in foreign countries, where we get most of our ideas and inspiration.

What happens when a museum is done using the paper installation? Is it recycled?Every project is different. We create small-scale projects and large-scale, too. We actually make vast installations of different sorts only in paper. Sometimes, the guests get to take a piece of the sculpture to their homes as a souvenir, and sometimes, the client decides to pack up everything for future use. When we get to decide, yes, everything is recycled. Once we guaranteed it has been photographed, of course!

Photo: Courtesy of Wanda Barcelona / Dior

Why are paper flowers better than live flowers?Paper is our medium, our artistic language, our nature, and our constant source of inspiration, so it is a question of 1+1=2. We study nature constantly, and we respectfully create our own interpretations in paper. We adore real flowers, but those we grow and collect in our gardens.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Photo: Courtesy of Wanda Barcelona / Dior