Many of the founder’s decorating codes — medallions, ribbons, cane work, houndstooth and panther prints — remain today. By 1953, the business grossed a whopping $15 million annually, employed 1,500 people and accounted for 55 percent of all Paris couture exports. In 1957, several months after appearing on the cover of Time magazine, Dior traveled to Italy to vacation in the town of Montecatini.
While the House of Dior is still a thriving business today, Dior’s untimely death in 1957 left the fashion world without a great dictator of style. Christian Dior designed under his own name for only a decade, but his influence will be felt for many years to come. After years of military and civilian uniforms, sartorial restrictions and shortages, Dior offered not merely a new look but a new outlook. Since her arrival at Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri has promoted the idea of universal female empowerment and an essential, steadfast sisterhood.
The Belgian designer, a graduate of the prestigious Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, reworked the timeless codes of Dior with his refined, minimalist signature. Throughout his collections, he reinterpreted Christian Dior’s flower-woman with her gracious curves, transforming her into an architectural silhouette, or masterfully revisiting the New Look as a pantsuit, reflecting his resolutely contemporary spirit. A British designer with a rock ’n’ roll spirit, known for his sense of extravagance, John Galliano reinvented the Dior haute couture tradition in 1996 by fusing it with his dreamlike imagination. His hybrid vision combined eclectic sources of inspiration, highlighting the cultural and artisanal riches of the world through the virtuosic skills of the Dior ateliers.
He opened a gallery in 1928 with an antique dealer friend, working with avant-garde artists such as Salvador Dalí, Alberto Giacometti, Pablo Picasso and Man Ray. Maurice Dior and family members ran a group of chemical companies, which landed the Dior name on such products as fertilizers. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks.
Galliano’s vision for Dior was a dramatic departure from the creatives who came before him. When he exited the brand in 2011, Raf Simons assumed creative directorship and sought to bring Dior closer to its roots. Simons designs were more understated and feminine, reminiscent of the classic Dior. After Ferre’s tenure, John Galliano took over as creative director, who led Dior into the new millennium, outfitting every star you can imagine — including Princess Diana of Wales. Not only did the princess wear Galliano’s couture, but she was partial to his handbags as well. Though Galliano’s saddle bags, which have become a staple for the Dior brand, became immensely popular, Princess Diana’s go-to was a bag that Galliano later dubbed Lady Dior, with Diana’s blessing.
The notched lapel is more often found in the work of Adrian and other suit makers of the 1940s who stressed angled geometries. The “Bar” suit also reveals the hand stitching at the inside of the collar and hand-stitched self-covered buttons of the atelier tailleur. Frédéric Castet, head of the tailoring workshop since 1953, becomes Creative Director of the Haute Fourrure collections. Philippe Guibourgé creates Miss Dior, the couture house’s ready-to-wear line. This document lists the looks by typology according to the activity and the time of the day.
At the time of his death, Dior’s house was earning more than $20 million annually. Dior was born on January 21, 1905, in Granville, a seaside town in the north of France. He was the second of five children born to Alexandre Louis Maurice Dior, the owner of a highly successful fertilizer manufacturer, and his wife, Isabelle. When he was a boy, Dior’s family moved to Paris, where he would spend his youth. An absolute classic in the world of fine perfumery, J’adore expresses all the sensual intensity and solar energy of a Dior woman.
Enhanced by spectacular scenography, each of his shows was conceived as a voyage into the extraordinary. Christian Dior dies of a heart attack in Montecatini, Italy, during the night of October 24. In accordance with his wishes, Yves Saint Laurent, his first assistant at the studio since 1955, is appointed Creative Director of the fashion house.
Bohan stayed with Dior for more than a decade, continuing to build the brand and make it even more internationally successful. He launched ready-to-wear and baby clothes, making Dior more accessible than ever. Stores started popping up in more cities like London and Hong Kong, and the Dior brand was catapulted to the top of the fashion world. There is a subtext to this New New Look that goes beyond respect for the house’s esteemed founder.
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