Dior Recruits ‘Triplets Of Belleville’ Director Sylvain Chomet For Hand-Drawn Holiday Short

Luxury fashion’s interest in hand-drawn holiday animation continues, with Dior recruiting The Triplets of Belleville and The Illusionist director Sylvain Chomet for its new Christmas short, “Christian Dior’s Night in Color.”

Set on a snowy winter night in 1949, the film imagines an urgent commission: Marlene Dietrich needs a dress after her Hollywood director decides to shoot in color. Christian Dior and his atelier work through the night to create a gown inspired by the house’s celebrated Junon design. The fictional story draws on the real friendship between the couturier and actress.

Robert Pattinson narrates, with Louis Garrel voicing Dior, Camille Cottin playing Dietrich, and Rihanna appearing as a lucky star. Josh O’Connor voices a chair, while Greta Lee, Nine d’Urso, and Nadia Tereszkiewicz play bees, a nod to the nickname for the house’s seamstresses.

The commission follows Prada’s recent holiday campaign, which enlisted John Pomeroy and fellow traditional animation veterans. Last year’s Don Bluth-inspired Scandinavian recycling PSA offered another memorable example of advertisers finding value in expressive, lovingly crafted 2D animation. And in 2022, Givenchy enlisted Disney legend Eric Goldberg to oversee a 101 Dalmatians–themed ad campaign.

Like those other examples, the Dior ad also came with a behind-the-scenes video. Seen below:

 

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For Dior, the connection makes a ton of sense. Both couture and hand-drawn animation depend on skilled artists turning drawings into something audiences can feel. And few filmmakers have as illustrious a resume as Choment when it comes to doing so with real characters from history.