Dior
Christian Dior was born on January 21, 1905, in the small town of Granville, in Normandy. His well-to-do parents moved the family to Paris when he was five, and there, Christian Dior went to college and studied post-graduate Political Science, making many friends in intellectual and artistic circles. In 1928, this would-be architect who later remarked, ‘(I was) prevented by my family and circumstances from ever gratifying this passion,’ opened a contemporary art gallery showcasing the works of Chirico, Utrillo, Braque, Fernand Léger and the paintings of friends Max Jacob and Christian Bérard.
The 1929 stock market crash ruined the Dior family finances and those too of Dior’s business partner. In 1935, he started selling fashion sketches to various Parisian Couture Houses and illustrated the fashion pages of the Figaro newspaper, a talent which led to him being hired as a designer – first for the house of Robert Piguet in 1938 and then, Lucien Lelong in 1941. Five years later, textile tycoon Marcel Boussac decided the finance Christian Dior’s own Couture House, purchasing the gracious mansions at 30, Avenue Montaigne which is still the home to the house of Dior.
Dior was born from a big bang, on 12 February 1947. That day, Christian Dior presented his first Haute Couture collection at his young Fashion House. For women of the post-war era, weary from years of rationing and restriction, he opened the door to a wonderful world of re-conquered femininity. The 'New Look' was a revolution. Overnight, Dior became famous around the world. The Dior name became synonymous with magic: stunning dresses, enchantment, instinctive creativity, delightful audacity, a sense of elegance, the genius of expertise... Haute Couture, Ready-to-Wear, accessories, fragrances, cosmetics, jewellery, watchmaking, men's fashion: whatever the realm of creation, Dior's dream continues to blossom somewhere between legacy and modernity. A 21st century story..