Cordelia de Castellane: ‘Mr Dior was an aquarius. So am I’

‘He was an aquarius, I’m an aquarius.’ Perhaps Cordelia de Castellane’s tenure as the artistic director of Dior Maison and Baby Dior for more than 15 years was written in the stars?

‘When I arrived, I think I made a very clear and strong link with Mr Dior himself. I know how strange it is, but going through his life and what he had left behind…’ she pauses, before adding, in her thick French accent: ‘He was very superstitious, I’m very superstitious. He was loving flowers, I feel very well in my garden…’

Whether you believe in the power of this ‘imaginary conversation’ between Cordelia and Christian, or indeed the significance of the zodiac, there’s no questioning the reality of the artistic director's success.

As well as Dior, Cordelia also runs her own company, Studio Cordelia de Castellane, which provides bespoke interior decoration for hotels, restaurants and private houses. In her own words, she has ‘a lot going on’. She explains: ‘I don’t like to do only one thing, I get bored very easily.’

Dior is the perfect gig for Cordelia. ‘As a little girl, Dior was a fantasy, it was a dream. I have always been obsessed with fashion,’ she says. Style also runs in the family. Cordelia’s great-great-uncle was the neo-romantic architect Emilio Terry. Her uncle, Gilles Dufour, was Karl Lagerfeld's long-time right-hand man at CHANEL and her mother, Countess Atalanta de Castellane, is an interior designer.

‘I grew up really in the middle of fashion and art and everything. It’s something that’s been around me since I was a little girl, so for sure I have a very good excuse to do the work that I do.’

Cordelia was raised in the Swiss mountains. An only child, she spent a lot of time with her grandparents, and a lot more time with no one at all. ‘I’m not really a city girl,’ she says. ‘I was a unique child, I spent a lot of my time quite alone — which is a good thing, don’t get me wrong.’ Perhaps because of this she has always had a strong imagination, ‘because I had my own world within myself’.

She had work experience at CHANEL, courtesy of her uncle, and landed her first job there aged 15. This was followed by a 10- year stint at Emanuel Ungaro that was originally only supposed to last for a month. ‘I arrived a young girl and left a woman with two children, married,’ she says. Then Dior came calling. ‘I knew very young what I wanted to do, and I wanted to work for a big house, so from the beginning I knew my goal.’

Your aesthetic hero

I’m quite obsessed with [Lorenzo] Mongiardino. I think that if I have to name one person with that kind of taste who pulls me away it would be Mongiardino, for sure.

An exhibition that has really impressed you

I would say that Monet is the painter who has my heart, because the way he paints nature is really something that talks to me. It's nothing original, but it's completely the truth.

The last thing of note that you bought for yourself

Nineteenth-century vases painted with irises that I found in a flea market. They’re really divine.

A possession you would never sell

I don’t know, because I think the most valuable things I have are not of monetary value. I’m not materialistic. I will never sell my soul, that’s for sure. Not for anything.

Your favourite painting

Something by either Monet or Renoir. With the latter’s paintings, like Bal du moulin de la Galette, you look at the people and you can imagine the story of what they’re talking about and who’s in love with who. It’s something that I love to do. That and Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son, by Monet.

The music that you work to

I could say classical, but also I love Coldplay and English pop music. I love music but it depends on my mood, you know?

The last podcast you listened to

I listened to something with Monty Don on. It made me cry, actually. He had a tough few years as a younger man. I’m a huge, huge fan.

What you’d take with you to a desert island

My family and my mum. Oh, and my dogs — Bagheera and Mowgli. Maybe I would swap all of them for just my two dogs. Maybe…

The thing that gets you up in the morning

Life. I love life.

The person that would play you in a film of your life

Meryl Streep. I love her. She’s so successful, so brave, so talented, but with such simple, good values. And to be able to be that beautiful and stay at the top of your game without touching your face — if we are talking about authenticity, she’s an authentic woman. I don’t know if I could be as brave as her.

A hotel you could go back and back to

I love the hotels in Italy. Like Hotel Il Pellicano, for example.

The most memorable meal you’ve ever eaten

I think it was something also in Italy. Probably pasta, because I’m obsessed with pasta. I’m always on a diet because I could eat all day. I love eating.

The items you collect

I am a huge collector of everything. Sylvanian Families — because I’m like a kid and I don’t want to grow up — books of flowers, erasers, frogs, vases, plates. I am quite an excessive collector of lots of things.

A book that you've found inspiring

I love Proust. He’s been next to my bed since I was a little girl. I also love the Paris of that time, which he writes about.

The best present you’ve ever received

My four children, for sure.

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