Christian Dior
(1911 - 1957)
Christian Dior was born in Granville, France; a fashionable seaside resort. Dior's family moved to Paris in 1911. Dior registered at the Ecole de Sciences Politiques in Paris. In 1927, after his military service and with his father's support, he opened an art gallery at 34, rue de la Boetie
, under the name of his associate Jacques Bonjean. The gallery exhibited the works of contemporary artists such as Giorgio de Chirico, Maurice Utrillo, Salvador Dali, Raoul Dufy, Marie Laurencin, Fernand Leger, Jean Lucat, Pablo Picasso, Ossip Zadkine, Georges Braque, and Aristide Maillol.
A series of personal and financial misfortunes changed Christian Dior’s carefree youth, and that of his family in 1931, including an attack of tuberculosis in 1934. The following year he returned to Paris with no income and no place to live. He was thirty years old and studied fashion drawing. He began to sell his first sketches of hats and dresses to fashionable hatmakers and couture houses. He then worked as a design assistant to Robert Piguet and Lucien Lelong in Paris.
After the War, Marcel Boussac, president of the cotton-marketing syndicate, offered to finance Dior’s own couture house. At the age of forty-two he presents his first collection “Corolle Line,” which was named by the press “the New Look,” and achieves insurmountable success. This collection featured dresses with huge skirts which blossomed out from tiny waists, and stiffened, boned bodices. Skirts were longer than in previous years, pleated, gathered, draped and paneled, often lined with tulle to create fullness. Hats were worn on the side of the head and often accompanied by a choker necklace. The collection was accompanied by the launch of his first perfume, Miss Dior.
In 1947 Dior received the Neiman Marcus Award. The following year, he set up the subsidiary Christian Dior New York, Inc., and branches were set up in Caracas, Australia, Chile, Mexico and Cuba. The "New Look" was Christian Dior’s passport to the American market. In 1948 Dior introduced his collection, "Envol," where he showed slim skirts with a pleat at the back, strapless evening dresses, and bloused bodices and jackets. During the 1950s, the House of Dior was alone responsible for half of all Paris’s couture export to the United States. His lines introduced skirts that were shorter and jackets were large and box-shaped, some with horseshoe collars. Over the following seven years, Dior introduced his version of the coolie hat, which was worn low over the eyes and trimmed with bows; a popular "princess line" which gave the illusion of a high waist by employing curved shoulder lines on short jackets and by placing belts on the back of coats and jackets. Many of his collections featured three-quarter-length sleeves and stoles which remained popular throughout the 1950s. I
n 1953, Dior raised skirts again to a couple of inches below the knee and showed them with top-heavy barrel-shaped coats and jackets. In 1955, many of his designs were inspired by the Orient, like his caftan and cheongsam. Dior also achieved considerable success with a high waisted, spaghetti-strapped chiffon dress and a long-length sheath. His last collection in 1957, featured the vareuse, a garment with a stand-away-collar, cut to hang loosely on to the hips. Dior's favorite colors to use in his creations were black, navy blue and white. Dior accessorized his clothes by pinning brooches to the neck, shoulder and waist.
In 1948 the Christian Dior perfume company was set up; it launched Diorama, in 1949, followed by Eau Fraiche (1953) and Diorissimo (1956).
Christian Dior died on October 24, 1957. The house of Dior continued after his death with Yves Saint Laurent taking over. Saint Laurent was followed by Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferre, and currently, John Galliano.
