Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog. I hope you are all having a great week so far and are looking forward to the weekend ahead. I have recently written a blog post called 'All About Chanel' where I tell you all about Coco Chanel's life growing up and her amazing career. Today I decided it was time to do a second post about another amazing designer. This one is 'All About Dior' and how he created his fashion brand and the incredible influence he had on the fashion industry. I hope you enjoy this post and get to learn all about Christian Dior and his amazing brand...
Childhood:
Christian Dior was born in Granville, Normandy in France on 21st January 1905. His father Maurice Dior (a wealthy fertilizer manufacture) and his mother Madeleine Martin had five children, including Christian. When Christian was five years old the family moved to Paris but still returned to Normandy in the summer holidays.
From a young age Dior was very artistic and made money by selling his fashion sketches for 10 cents each. In 1928 when Christian had left school his father gave him money to finance a small art gallery where he and his friend sold famous art pieces by artists such as Pablo Picasso. Three years later, during the Great Depression, the family was hit with many horrible disasters. They lost Christian's mother and brother and had financial difficulties with the families fertilizer business. This meant they lost control of the business and had to close down the art gallery as they could afford to run it anymore.
However, in 1937 things started to look up for Christian. He was employed by the fashion designer Robert Piguet who allowed him to design three of the his collections. He said that "Robert Piguet taught me the virtues of simplicity through which true elegance must come". One of the most popular designs Christian created for Piguet was a day dress with a short, full skirt known as 'Café Anglais'. While he was still working for Piguet, Christian also worked alongside Pierre Balmain and was offered the job as house designer by Marc Bohan. This was where his fashion career really started. Unfortunley after a while Christian was called up for the military service so had to leave to complete his line of duty.
It was in 1942 that Dior left the army and went to work for the fashion house Lucien Lelong, where he worked alongside Pierre Balmain again as one of the primary designers. During the war Dior helped dress the wives of Nazi officers and French collaborators which helped preserve the fashion industry through this time. Also during this time Christian's sister Catherine joined the French Resistance but was capture and held in imprisonment for many years. Luckily she survived and was released in 1945.
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| Christian Dior (top left) family photo |
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| Christian Dior home and museum in Granville, France |
However, in 1937 things started to look up for Christian. He was employed by the fashion designer Robert Piguet who allowed him to design three of the his collections. He said that "Robert Piguet taught me the virtues of simplicity through which true elegance must come". One of the most popular designs Christian created for Piguet was a day dress with a short, full skirt known as 'Café Anglais'. While he was still working for Piguet, Christian also worked alongside Pierre Balmain and was offered the job as house designer by Marc Bohan. This was where his fashion career really started. Unfortunley after a while Christian was called up for the military service so had to leave to complete his line of duty.
It was in 1942 that Dior left the army and went to work for the fashion house Lucien Lelong, where he worked alongside Pierre Balmain again as one of the primary designers. During the war Dior helped dress the wives of Nazi officers and French collaborators which helped preserve the fashion industry through this time. Also during this time Christian's sister Catherine joined the French Resistance but was capture and held in imprisonment for many years. Luckily she survived and was released in 1945.
The Dior Fashion House:
In 1946 Christian was invited by Marcel Boussac (known as the richest man in France) to design for the Paris fashion house Philippe et Gaston. However he refused the offer as he wished to start up his own brand instead of designing for others. On the 8th December 1946 Dior's dreams came true and he finally founded his own fashion house, Dior, at 30 Avenue Montaigne, Paris with the help from Marcel Boussac.
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| Dior's first fashion house |
Dior brought out his first collection on 12th February 1947 and named it 'Corolle'. However, due to the publication in Harper's Bazaar the collection is more widely known as the 'New Look'. The designs from this collection were much more voluminous than the traditional boxy styles seen at the time due to the rationing of fabric during World War II. His designs included many enhancing features such as: boning, hip padding, bust enhancing bodices, slimming waist corsets and petticoats which gave the illusion of a tiny waist and large hips popular in the 40s.
However, when Dior first released his collection women disliked the fact that his designs covered up their legs. Due to the fabric rationing in the war women were used to wearing shorter skirts and dresses and showing off their legs. There were also complains about how much fabric was used for one dress. However, when the rationing was completely over and women started to become more relaxed about Dior's designs, the fashion industry was viewed in a different way. Dior's 'New Look' took over and Paris become the centre of the fashion world.
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| The 'New Look' |
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| The 'New Look' |
Dior's fashion house was very successful and many orders were made including ones from famous stars such as Rita Hayworth and Margot Fonteyn which helped to raise Dior's profile majorly. Dior was even invited to present his collection to the British royal family. However, King George V forbid the young princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret, from wearing the 'New Look' in case it set a bad example due to the rationing of fabrics still being in force.
In November 1948 Dior established a luxury ready-to-wear house on the corner of 5th Avenue and 57th Street in New York with Jacques Rouët. This was also the year he decided to create a range of accessories to go with the 'New Look' to complete the look. These included: furs, stockings, ties and perfumes. Dior also released his first perfume Miss Dior as a tribute to his sister Catherine. The following year he released another perfume called Diorama.
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| Miss Dior 1948 |
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| Diorama Perfume 1949 |
Death:
In 1955 Dior employed Yves Saint Laurent (age 19) as his assistant. A couple of years later in 1957 Dior met with Yves Saint Laurent's mothers to inform her he had chosen her son to carry on his brand. She was very confused at the time as Christian Dior was only 52 years old. However, not long after this Christian Dior suffered from a heart attack and sadly past away on 24th October 1957. Dior was widely loved and around 2,500 people attended his funeral. This also included his staff and famous clients. At this point Jacques Rouët appointed Yves Saint Laurent (aged 21) as the artist director of the brand.
Dior after Death:
Yves Saint Laurent remained the artist director of Dior until he was called up by the army. During this time his place was taken over by Marc Bohan. Bohan was a successful replacement and created a new silhouette for Dior. It was the 'slim look' which was a more modern version of Dior's iconic silhouette.
In 1978, the Boussac Group filed for bankruptcy meaning Dior was sold to the Willot Group. In 1984 Bernard Arnault purchased the Willot Group and drastically altered Dior's operations. In 1985 Bernard Arnault become chairman, CEO and managing director of Christian Dior. In 1989 Gianfranco Ferre was appointed the stylistic director replacing Marc Bohan. He then remained in this position until 1997. Bernard Arnault then appointed John Galliano (a British designer) to take over. He said "Galliano has a creative talent very close to that of Christian Dior. He has the same extraordinary mixture of romanticism, feminism and modernity that symbolised Monsieur Dior. In all of his creations - his suits, his dresses - one finds similarities to the Dior style".
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| Marc Bohan design for Dior in 1965 |
In 1978, the Boussac Group filed for bankruptcy meaning Dior was sold to the Willot Group. In 1984 Bernard Arnault purchased the Willot Group and drastically altered Dior's operations. In 1985 Bernard Arnault become chairman, CEO and managing director of Christian Dior. In 1989 Gianfranco Ferre was appointed the stylistic director replacing Marc Bohan. He then remained in this position until 1997. Bernard Arnault then appointed John Galliano (a British designer) to take over. He said "Galliano has a creative talent very close to that of Christian Dior. He has the same extraordinary mixture of romanticism, feminism and modernity that symbolised Monsieur Dior. In all of his creations - his suits, his dresses - one finds similarities to the Dior style".
John Galliano was the creative director of Christian Dior until March 2011 where he was dismissed after being filmed assaulting a member of the public while drunk and swearing. His former-designer director Bill Gayten took over until the 9th April 2012 when Raf Simons became the artistic director of the fashion house where he remains today.
Until this day Dior is a successful fashion brand and Christian Dior is widely remembered. Christian changed the way women looked at fashion and has influenced the clothing we wear today. I hope you enjoyed learning all about Christian Dior and the creation of his brand. If you want me to do any more posts like this on different designers then let me know which ones you want me to do in the comment section below. If you want to learn more about different fashion topics then head back every Friday for more and head back every Wednesday for outfit styling posts. I hope you enjoyed and I will see you back here again soon...
Emma Victoria
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