Christian Dior

(click to enlarge)
Christian Dior, 1957. (credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.)

(born Jan. 21, 1905, Granville, France — died Oct. 24, 1957, Montecatini, Italy) French fashion designer. He trained for the French diplomatic service, but in the financial crisis of the 1930s he began illustrating fashions for a weekly periodical. In 1942 he joined the house of the Parisian designer Lucien Lelong. In 1947 he introduced his revolutionary "New Look," which featured small shoulders, a natural waistline, and a voluminous skirt, a drastic change from the World War II look of padded shoulders and short skirts. In the 1950s the "sack," or "H" line, became the characteristic silhouette of his designs. He was instrumental in commercializing Parisian fashion on a worldwide scale.

For more information on Christian Dior, visit Britannica.com.

Christian Dior (1905-1957) was a fashion designer who changed the look of women's clothing and gave the post-World War II French fashion industry a new feminine look.

Christian Dior, son of a wealthy Norman manufacturer of chemicals and fertilizer, wanted to be an architect, but his family insisted he enter the diplomatic service. He prepared for a diplomatic career at the Ecole des Sciences Politiques but abandoned diplomacy in 1928 and became an art dealer. Illness forced him to give up that business in 1934, and when he returned to Paris a year later, it was as a fashion illustrator - first of hats, later of dresses.

"The New Look"

In 1946, when World War II cloth rationing was lifted, Dior opened his own salon. In the spring of 1947 the success of his first collection, called the "New Look," propelled him to the top of the French fashion industry. His idealized, ultrafeminine silhouette featured tiny waists; long, full skirts; padded busts; and rounded shoulders. Everything was made exquisitely of the best materials available. The New Look changed the shape of women's clothing and lifted the French fashion industry out of the doldrums. For this feat a grateful French government awarded him the Legion of Honor.

Subsequent Designs

His successive collections (including the "H-Line" in 1954 and the "A-Line" in 1955) continued to be popular, and throughout the 1950s the fashion world looked to Paris and Dior for inspiration and style. He expanded his company into eight firms and sixteen associate firms in twenty-four countries, reportedly grossing some $20 million a year. His Dior label went on jewelry, scarves, men's ties, furs, stockings, gloves, and ready-to-wear clothing.

After his death the House of Dior continued under other designers, including his protégé Yves St. Laurent until 1960, then Marc Bohan.

Widely known for his full-bodied ‘New Look’, which was launched in 1947 and captured the attention of women on both sides of the Atlantic after the material restrictions of the Second World War. This romantic, highly feminized style was characterized by a thin waist and long, full skirts and narrow bodice, as a result attracting censure in some quarters on account of its implicit undermining of the new freedoms enjoyed by women in the war years. Dior began his fashion career in Paris in the mid-1930s and, after military service in the south of France during the Second World War, returned to Paris in 1944. After a period in the fashion house of Lucien Lelong he opened his own establishment in 1946 and did much to re-establish Paris as the ‘fashion capital’ of the world after the disruption of war. In 1948 he agreed to the licensed production of clothes, perfumes, ties, and other accessories as a means of spreading the Dior name internationally. After the highly popular ‘New Look’ of 1947 Dior was responsible for a number of striking new lines launched annually, the best known of which was perhaps the ‘A’ line of 1956, following on from the ‘H’ line of 1954 and the ‘Y’ line of 1955. A number of distinguished designers have been involved with the House of Dior, including Yves Saint Laurent, who took over after Dior's sudden death. Other distinguished designers followed including Gianfranco Ferre and John Galliano.

• Born: Granville, France, 21 January 1905.
• Education: Studied political science at École des Sciences Politiques, Paris, 1920-25.
• Military Service: Served in the French Army, 1927-28, mobilized, 1939-40.
• Career: Art dealer, 1928-31; freelance designer and sketch artist, 1934-37; assistant designer, Piguet, 1937-39; lived in Provence, 1940-42; designer, Lelong, 1941-46; Maison Dior opened, 1947; Christian Dior-New York opened, 1948; firm continued after death, Yves Saint Laurent took over designs, 1957-60; Marc Bohan signed as designer, 1960-89; Miss Dior boutique opened, 1967; fragrances and cosmetics sold to Moët-Hennessey, 1972; acquired by Agache-Willot; acquired by Bernard Arnault, 1984; went public as Christian Dior SA, 1988; Gianfranco Ferré became head designer, 1989; brought most licensing in-house by 1995; hired John Galliano, 1996; began opening new stores, 1999-2000; owns majority stake in LVMH; fragrances include: Miss Dior, 1947; Diorama, 1949; Diorissima, 1956; Diorling, 1963; Tendre Poison, 1994; Dolce Vita, 1995; Hypnotic Poison, 1998; Higher Dior, 2001.
• Exhibitions:Christian Dior et le Cinéma, Cinémathéque Francaise, Paris, 1983; Dessins de Dior, Musée des Arts de la Mode, Paris, 1987; Gruau: Modes et publicité, Musée de la Mode et du costume, 1989; Réne Gruau pour Christian Dior, Musee des Beaux Arts, 1990; Christian Dior: The Magic of the Fashion, Powerhouse Museum, 1994; Metropolitan Museum of Art, [retrospective], 1996; John Galliano at Dior, [retrospective], Design Museum of London, 2001-02.
• Awards: Neiman Marcus award, Dallas, 1947; Remise de la legion d'honneur a Christian Dior, 1950; Parsons School of Design Distinguished Achievement award, New York, 1956; Fashion Industry Foundation award, to the House of Dior, New York, 1990.
• Died: 24 October 1957, in Montecatini, Italy.
• Company Address: 30 avenue Montaigne, 75008 Paris, France.
• Company Website:www.dior.com.

Although Christian Dior died in 1957, he is perhaps one of the most famous fashion designers of both the 20th and 21st centuries. In the years after the debut of his first collection in 1947 he was a legendary figure and the world press developed an extraordinary love affair with him, increasing their enthusiasm with each new collection. Dior never disappointed them, constantly creating clothes that were newsworthy as well as beautiful.

Dior was middle-aged when he achieved fame. A sensitive and gentle personality, he had previously worked as a fashion illustrator, then as a design assistant for both Robert Piguet and Lucien Lélong in Paris. In 1946 the French textile magnate Marcel Boussac offered to finance the opening of Dior's own couture house and secured the lease on 30 avenue Montaigne, Paris. The first collection was revolutionary, heralded as the "New Look" by the fashion press— Dior himself had christened it the "Corolle Line." It was a composition of rounded shoulders, shapely emphasis of the bust, cinched waist, and curvaceous bell-shaped skirt in luxurious fabric.

The concept of the collection was not new, bearing a striking resemblance to French fashions of the 1860s. Dior himself attributed his inspiration to the pretty, elegant clothes he had remembered his mother wearing to the Deauville races in the 1900s. Even though several other designers had experimented with or predicted the new silhouette, Dior's luxurious version reawakened the world to the importance of Parisian couture. At a standstill during World War II, Paris had lost its way as the world's fashion capital. Dior reestablished it as a center of excellence, creating what Janey Ironside of the Royal College of Art in London described as "a new chance in life, a new love affair."

There were many criticisms of the New Look; feminists have argued it was an attempt to return women to an oppressed, decorative role with its emphasis on the restrictive padding, corset, and crinoline. Others were shocked by the extravagant use of ornament and fabric when clothes were still being rationed. The New Look, however, rapidly became a postwar cultural symbol for what Dior himself described as "Youth, hope, and the future." After creating a furor with his first collection, Dior established himself as a cautious, methodical designer. Subsequent collections were a continuation of the New Look theme of highly constructed clothes. They were christened with names that described their silhouettes, the Zig Zag Line, A Line, Y Line, Arrow Line, etc. All the collections were realized with the finest tailoring and the most sumptuous fabrics: satins, traditional suiting, fine wools, taffetas, and lavish embroideries.

Throughout Dior's ten years of fame, none of his collections failed, either critically or commercially. The only threat to his run of success occurred when Chanel made a fashion comeback in 1954 at the age of 71. Chanel's philosophy—clothes should be relaxed, ageless, dateless, and easy to wear—completely opposed Dior's philosophy. "Fifties Horrors," was how she described male couturiers, deploring them for torturing bodies into ridiculous shapes. Dior's reaction was to introduce his most unstructured collection, the "Lily of the Valley" line was young, fresh, and unsophisticated. Relaxed, casual jackets with pleated skirts and sailor-collared blouses, these Dior clothes were easy and beautiful.

By the time Dior died his name had become synonymous with taste and luxury. The business had an estimated turnover of $20-million annually, a phenomenal figure in those days, thanks in part to Dior's own shrewdness. Dior organized licence agreements to manufacture accessories internationally, and at the time of his death, perfume, furs, scarves, corsetry, knitwear, lingerie, costume jewelry, and shoes were being produced.

Many of Dior's associates have said that his death was timely and that his work and fashion philosophy were entirely suited to his period. It would be interesting to speculate how Dior would have adapted to the excesses of fashion in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, because, as his former personal assistant, Madame Raymonde, once said, "If Dior had lived, fashion would not be in the state it is in now." Nor would his business have gone through multiple owners, or his name become so overlicensed its cachet was nearly lost. After years of struggle, the Dior reclaimed its licenses and rebuilt an empire in the capable hands of Bernard Arnault who bought the firm in 1984 from its bankrupt owner, Agache-Willot.

Many top designers have had stints at Dior, including Yves Saint Laurent who took over after Christian's death, followed by Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, and John Galliano. Galliano's bad-boy image brought much attention to Dior, but his designs have reinvigorated the house and once again brought renown to the Dior name.

Publications

By Dior:

Books
• Talking About Fashion, with Alice Chavane and Elie Rabourdin, London, 1954.
• Dior by Dior, London, 1957.

On Dior:

Books
• Lyman, Ruth, ed., Couture: An Illustrated History of the Great Paris Designers and Their Creations, New York, 1972.
• Keenan, Brigid, Dior in Vogue, London, 1981.
• Milbank, Caroline Rennolds, Couture: The Great Designers, New York, 1985.
• Musée des Arts de la Mode, Homage á Christian Dior [exhibition catalogue], Paris, 1986.
• Giroud, Françoise, Dior: Christian Dior 1905-1957, London, 1987.
• Pochna, Marie-France, Christian Dior, Paris, 1994.
• ——, Christian Dior: The Man Who Made the World Look New, London, 1994, 1996.
• Christian Dior: The Magic of Fashion, Sydney, 1994; London, 2000.
• Cawthorne, Nigel, The New Look: The Dior Revolution, London, 1996.
• ——, Key Moments in Fashion, London, 1998.
• Drosson, Monique, and Lidia Popielska, Christian Dior, Marcel Boussac, 1947-1978, Alsace, 1998.
• de Réthy, Esmeralda, and Jean-Louis Perreau, Christian Dior and the Founding of His House, London, 2001.

Articles
• McCooey, Meriel, "The New Look," in the Sunday Times Magazine (London), 11 August 1968.
• "Dior is Dior is Dior," in American Fabrics & Fashions, No. 114 (New York), 1978.
• McDowell, Colin, "Dior: The Myth, the Legend and Tragedy," in The Guardian, 12 February 1987.
• Buck, Joan Juliet, "Dior's New Look, Then and Now," in Vogue, March 1987.
• Bricker, Charles, "Looking Back at the New Look," in Connoisseur (New York), April 1987.
• Harbrecht, Ursula, "Hommage á Christian Dior," in Textiles Suisses (Lausanne), May 1987.
• Snow, Carmel, "It's Quite a Revolution, Dear Christian; Your Dresses Have Such a New Look," in the Independent, 23 October 1987.
• Ingrassia, Michele, with Meggan Dissly, "Dior Meets Disney World," in Newsweek, 26 December 1994.
• Schiro, Anne-Marie, "Color-Filled Chloé and Rarefied Dior," in the New York Times, 17 March 1995.
• "Designing Dior—Who's Next?" in WWD, 16 July 1996.
• Mehle, Aileen, "Dior New York Look," in WWD, 11 December 1996.
• Duffy, Martha, "The Pope of Fashion: Bernard Arnault…," in Time, 21 April 1997.
• Weil, Jennifer, et al., "Arnault's New Agenda for LVMH, Dior Puts Emphasis on Retailing," in WWD, 10 June 1998.
• Weisman, Katherine, "Galliano's Open-Dior Policy," in WWD, 3December 1999.
• Rubenstein, Hal, "The Look of Christian Dior," in InStyle, 1 November 2000.
• Socha, Miles, "The Galliano Factor: Dior Lays Groundwork for 'Exceptional' 2001," in WWD, 16 January 2001.
• "Born Again Christians," in Time International, 19 February 2001.
• "Dior Income Rises, Galliano Sales Cited," in WWD, 12 March 2001.
• Deeny, Godfrey, "Christian Dior: Too Many Clothes, Not Enough Models," at Fashion Windows, www.fashionwindows.com, 7 July 2001.
• Davis, Boyd, "Christian Dior á la America," at Fashion Windows, www.fashionwindows.com, 9 October 2001.

— KevinAlmond; updated by SydonieBenét

Quotes:

"Women are most fascinating between the ages of thirty-five and forty, after they have won a few races and know how to pace themselves. Since few women ever pass forty, maximum fascination can continue indefinitely."

Christian Dior
Christian Dior, monograph by Marie-France Pochna, Flammarion, 2004
Born	21 January 1905(1905-01-21) Granville, Manche, Basse-Normandie, France
Died	24 October 1957 (aged 52) Montecatini, Italy
Nationality	French
Labels	Christian Dior

The Christian Dior Home and Museum in Granville (Manche), France.

Christian Dior (21 January 1905, Granville, Manche – 24 October 1957), was an influential French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, also called Christian Dior. He was born in Granville, Manche, a seaside town on the coast of France.

Acceding to his parents' wishes, Dior attended the École des Sciences Politiques from 1920 to 1925. The family, whose fortune was derived from the manufacture of fertilizer, had hopes he would become a diplomat, but Dior only wished to be involved in the arts, mostly fashion, but sketching as well. To make money, he sold his fashion sketches on the streets for about 10 cents each. After leaving school he received money from his father so that in 1928 he could open a small art gallery, where he sold art by the likes of Pablo Picasso. After a family financial disaster that resulted in his father losing his business, Dior was forced to close the gallery. From 1937-39 he worked with Robert Piguet until being called up for military service. In 1942, having left the Army, Dior joined the fashion house of Lucien Lelong, where he and Pierre Balmain were the primary designers. For the duration of World War II, Christian Dior dressed the wives of the Nazi officers and French collaborators. On 8 October 1946 Dior founded his own fashion house, backed by Marcel Boussac, the cotton-fabric magnate.

The actual name of the line of his first collection, presented in early 1947, was Corolle (literally the botanical term corolla or circlet of flower petals in English), but the phrase New Look was coined for it by Carmel Snow, the editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar. Dior's designs were more voluptuous than the boxy, fabric-conserving shapes of the recent World War II styles, influenced by the rations on fabric.^[1] He was a master at creating shapes and silhouettes; Dior is quoted as saying "I have designed flower women." His look employed fabrics lined predominantly with percale, boned, bustier-style bodices, hip padding, wasp-waisted corsets and petticoats that made his dresses flare out from the waist, giving his models a very curvaceous form. The hem of the skirt was very flattering on the calves and ankles, creating a beautiful silhouette. Initially, women protested because his designs covered up their legs, which they had been unused to because of the previous limitations on fabric. There was also some backlash to Dior's designs form due to the amount of fabrics used in a single dress or suit—during one photo shoot in a Paris market, the models were attacked by female vendors over the profligacy of their dresses—but opposition ceased as the wartime shortages ended. The New Look revolutionized women's dress and reestablished Paris as the center of the fashion world after World War II.

Contents 1 Death 2 In popular culture 3 References 4 External links

Death

Dior died while on holiday in Montecatini, Italy. Some reports say that he died of a heart attack after choking on a fish bone.^[2] Time magazine's obituary stated that he died of a heart attack after playing a game of cards.^[3] However, the Paris socialite and Dior acquaintance Alexis von Rosenberg, Baron de Rédé stated in his memoirs that contemporary rumor had it that the fashion designer succumbed to a heart attack after a strenuous sexual encounter. Some even think that he died because of a seizure.

In popular culture

This "In popular culture" section may contain too many minor or trivial references. Please reorganize this content to explain the subject's impact on popular culture rather than simply listing appearances, and remove trivia references. (August 2009)

In 2006, singer Morrissey released a song titled "Christian Dior" as a b-side to the single "In the Future When All's Well." The song uses Dior's life as a comparison to the songwriter's life, where he seems to believe both have been wasted perfecting a single thing (Dior with fashion, Morrissey with music) and ignored all the good things life had to offer.

A perfume named Christian Dior is used in Haruki Murakami's novel The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle as an influential symbol placed at critical plot points throughout.

References

1. ^ Grant, L. (22 September 2007), "Light at the end of the tunnel", The Guardian, http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/fashion/story/0,,2173471,00.html, retrieved 23 September 2007 
2. ^ Waldman, Hb (Nov 1979), "Christian Dior", Dental student 58 (3): 58–60, ISSN 0011-877X, PMID 399225, http://www.designmuseum.org/design/christian-dior, retrieved 7 March 2008 
3. ^ "Time news", Time, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,867898-1,00.html, retrieved 7 March 2008 

External links

• Christian Dior Official Website
• Christian Dior Biography
• A biography of Christian Dior
• Sewing patterns by Christian Dior
• "'Bar' Suit and Hat". Victoria and Albert Museum. http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1486_couture/exhibHighBarSuit.php. Retrieved 11 November 2007. 
• "Zémire evening ensemble". Victoria and Albert Museum. http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1486_couture/exhibHighZemire.php. Retrieved 13 November 2007. 
• Photos of Dior and Samples of New Look Fashion
• "Interactive timeline of couture houses and couturier biographies". Victoria and Albert Museum. http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1486_couture/explore.php. 
• [1] Documentary film Christian Dior, The Man Behind The Myth

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