We report on the first experimental observation of a novel type of optical vector soliton, a dipole-mode soliton, recently predicted theoretically. We show that these vector solitons can be generated in a photorefractive medium employing two different processes: a phase imprinting, and a symmetry-breaking instability of a vortex-mode vector soliton. The experimental results display remarkable agreement with the theory, and confirm the robust nature of these radially asymmetric two-component solitary waves.Optical spatial solitons in (2+1) dimensions are particle-like solitary waves propagating in a nonlinear bulk medium [1]. The exhaustive research of the past decade has shown that these "light particles" can possess topological phase properties analogous to a charge. Moreover, several light beams can combine to produce a vector soliton with a complex internal structure. This process can be thought of as the formation of a "solitonic molecule" from the constitutuents of different charge.Recently, the existence of the most robust "solitonic molecule", the dipole-mode vector soliton, has been predicted [2]. This novel optical vector soliton originates from trapping of a dipole-mode beam by a waveguide created by a fundamental soliton in the co-propagating, incoherently coupled, beam. While many other topologically complex structures may be created, it is only the dipole mode that is expected to generate a family of dynamically robust vector solitons [2]. The closest counterexample is the vortex-mode vector soliton [3] which has a node-less shape in one component and a ring-like vortex in the other component. This radially symmetric, vector soliton undergoes a nontrivial symmetry-breaking instability [2,4], which transforms it into a more stable object -radially asymmetric dipole-mode vector soliton, even in an isotropic nonlinear medium.While the existence and robustness of the dipole-mode vector solitons have been established theoretically for a general model of an isotropic medium with saturable nonlinearity [2], the main question still stands: Is the stability of these asymmetric solitons, as opposed to the radially symmetric vortex-mode solitons, a fundamental phenomenon that can be demonstrated experimentally?In this Letter we answer this question positively. We observe dipole-mode solitons in strontium barium niobate (SBN) photorefractive crystals experimentally, by employing two different techniques. First, we use a specially fabricated phase mask to create a dipole-like structure in one of the co-propagating, mutually incoherent, beams. Second, we observe the symmetry breaking of the vortex-mode soliton and the formation of a dipole-mode soliton, as predicted by the theory.Theoretical results. We consider two incoherently interacting optical beams propagating in a bulk, isotropic, saturable medium. The model describes (2+1)-dimensional screening solitons in photorefractive (PR) materials in the isotropic approximation [5]. It represents a great simplification with respect to a more realistic treatment taki...