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Fashion @dior
“By being natural and sincere, one often can create revolutions without having sought them.” – Christian Dior
When most people hear the name “Dior,” their minds wander to the world’s largest fashion house, not to the man who created it. The story of Monsieur Dior is one of an amazing creative genius who spans the first half of the 20th century, and whose impact on modern fashion rivals that of Coco Chanel herself.
A Little History on Dior
- Rapper Kayne West created a song “Christian Dior Denim Flow” for New York Fashion Week 2010.
- Christian Dior was the only designer whose dresses actress Marlene Dietrich would wear.
- Hollywood film icon Elizabeth Taylor ordered all 12 Dior dresses from the Spring 1962 line under the “Slim Look.”
Paris Holds the Key
As a young child in 1910, Christian’s family moved to Paris with the hopes that he would train to be a diplomat. It seemed fate had other plans in store for him, since from an early age he sold sketches of local Parisian fashion to people who traveled by his house.
During the late 1920s, with a grant from his father, Dior started the well-known gallery Dior Freres, located in Saint-Germain-des-Prés. At the gallery, Dior sold the works of famous artists like Pablo Picasso. Sadly, when the financial crisis of the American Great Depression hit Paris, the gallery closed its doors to the public.
The 1940s & World War II
1940 saw Dior drafted into the French army, but little is known about the two years he spent in military service. The fall of Paris in 1942 saw Dior leave the Army and return to the city of his youth. He joined fashion designer Lucien Lelong in an effort to keep the French fashion industry alive during the war.
As Dior struggled under the artistic and economic pressures of World War II, during his time as an employee of Lelong he designed couture dresses for the wives of important Nazis. According to his long-time associate Alexis, Baron de Rede, it was these relationships with the wives of Nazi officers that allowed Christian to aid the French Resistance, by passing along information he gained by these relationships to his sister, Catherine Dior.
Catherine was a member of the French Resistance. She was captured by the Gestapo and sent to a concentration camp for her activities until the liberation of France in 1945. In celebration of her life Christian immortalized her with the creation of the perfume, Miss Dior, now Dior’s top selling scent.
The House Dior & the New Look
Christmas came early for Dior in the year following the liberation of France by the Allied Forces, as Marcel Boussac, a cotton magnate, funded the creation of Christian’s fashion house.
As House Dior opened its doors to the public, Carmel Snow–the editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar–fell madly in love with his 1947 collection, calling it the “New Look.”
His first collection was Correlle, literally translated as “Circle of Flower Petals” in English. In rebellion against the rationing placed on fabrics during the war, Dior’s designs were voluptuous. He is credited with bringing percale fabrics into the fore front of Parisian designs. Percale has a thread count of 200 or higher, and is a blend of 50% cotton and 50% polyester. As a synthetic fabric, it was long looked down upon until Dior used it in his designs.
Christian displayed a clear mastery of silhouettes in his designs by utilizing classic fashion elements like petticoats, bodices and wasp-waisted corsets in new bold ways that gave his models a very curvaceous form.
The ’50s
Following in the footsteps of fellow Parisian fashion designer Coco Chanel, Dior launched a perfume called Miss Dior in honor of his sister Catherine. With the introduction of the Dior perfume line, Christian expanded his operation internationally by introducing licensing agreements.
Through Jacques Rouet, Dior’s general manager at the helm of the new licensing, the newly established “Christian Dior” trademark became visible on everything from gloves, handbags, jewelry and scarves.
According the French Chamber of Commerce, by 1950 Dior’s fashion house made up over 75% of the Paris fashion industry and 5% of France’s national fashion exports.
His Death
Following his death in 1957 from his third heart attack, the fashion house Dior had worked so hard at establishing was on the verge of shutting down. Under intense pressure from Dior licensees, the French fashion industry, and finally the government of France itself, General Manager Jacques promoted, an unknown 21-year-old designer named Yves Saint-Laurent to the post of Creative Director.
Hired by Christian Dior himself shortly before his death as his Head Assistant, Yves had been trained to craft clothing with an eye toward meticulous details and perfect proportions. Saint Laurent made his own unique impression to the House of Dior by introducing softer, easier to wear designs.
Dior Today
As of 2017, the House of Dior is the world’s leading luxury goods brand, producing more couture, ready-to-wear fashion and accessories than any other fashion house to date. Under the leadership of current CEO Bernard Arnault, Europe’s wealthiest man, Dior makes an annual income of $41 billion and operates over 210 stores worldwide with over 75,000 employees.
“It is unforgiveable to do what one doesn’t love especially if one succeeds,” Christian Dior
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