In an age when the ubiquity of mass production trumps the handmade at almost every turn, it says something that there are those who still stubbornly champion the artisanal approach. Exhibit A is Dior Gold House, the Parisian house’s new concept store in Bangkok’s tony Phloem Chit quarter. Located across the road from Bangkok’s glitzy Central Embassy Mall and the Park Hyatt, it is a dreamy interlude amid the city’s chaotic bustle.

On every metric, Dior Gold House is a remarkable conceit given that in February, the entire site was a carpark. Now transformed into a literal oasis of traveller’s palms, dense tropical landscaping and water gardens from which rises a spectacular simulacrum of Dior’s Paris HQ at 30 Avenue Montaigne, the entire facade, complete with mansard roof, indented with 300 faux windows and clad in a million handmade gold mosaic tiles.

And what works they have produced. Every piece is a thoughtfully conceived, contemporary take on a traditional Thai craft and technique, whether Korakot Aromdee’s sensational three-dimensional flora and fauna, made entirely of bent bamboo, that adorn the walls of the Mauro Colagreco-helmed café; a collection of faux Lady Dior bags, each reimagined in finely wrought bamboo filigree by Savin Saima of Vassana; handsome, low-slung tables and chairs that architect Boonserm Premthada crafted out of treated elephant waste; or voluminous armchairs sheathed in coloured mirror mosaics by Eggarat Wongcharit.

To say that Dior Gold House is a work of art is to simplify the scale of the project. Dior Gold House is part of the marque’s storytelling, a vivid reflection of both its history and approach to fashion.

1029 Ploenchit Road, Lumpini, Pathumwan, Bangkok.