The Early YearsChristian Dior was born in Granville, France in 1905

His father was a successful fertilizer manufacturer

He was the second of five children

His family moved to Paris when he was still a child

Christian had an early attraction to art and architecture

Political Science to ArtChristian’s father had decidedhe was to become a diplomat

As such, he enrolled in the Ecole des Sciences Politiques in 1925 to begin his studies

After graduation, with the financial support of his father,he opened an art gallery under the caveat that the family name would not appear over the door

He worked with Picasso and many others

1931 the gallery closed

The path to fashionAfter the close of his art gallery, Christian began selling fashion sketches to make money

In 1935, he took a job as an illustrator for the magazine Le Figaro Illustre

This job would propel him into his first position with a Parisian fashion house

Dior was hired as a design assistant for couturier Robert Piguet before leaving a few years later to serve as an officer in the French army

Dior returned to Paris in 1940 and was hired by couturier Lucien Lelong

Dior and Balmain were the principle designers at Lelong

He worked with Lelong until 1946 when he was approached by Marcel Boussac, the “King of Cotton” and one of the most famous post-war industrialists

Boussac wanted Dior to become the artistic director of the fashion house Phillipe et Gaston

He was very conflicted about this decision and continued to ask himself “why?”

SuperstitionDior was a very superstitious man, always looking for signs and consulting fortune tellers

This star, his “evening star”, led him to the answer he would give Boussac. Having almost tripped over it in front of the British Embassy, Dior felt it was a sign.

Dior’s “answer” was Yes! Not yes that he would take over Phillipe et Gaston but that he would start his own house where everything would be “new”

“You will be penniless, but women will be good to you and it’s thanks to them that you will succeed. You will make large profits

and will make numerous crossings.”

Dior first started consulting fortune tellers at the age of 14 due to influence from his grandmother. Madame Delahaye made a huge impact his life and he consulted her often. She predicted the return of his sister. She insisted he begin his own house.

Birth of a House

30 avenue MontaigneDior’s superstition continued: the number 8, lily of the valley, two hearts, four-leaf clover, a piece of wood, and a gold coin

The house, situated in the 8th district of Paris, had 8 floors and 8 workshops. The number also played a large part in the silhouette that was about to make him famous

He was very intentional and deliberate regarding the interior of the House, decorated in the neoclassical Louis XVI style, and when he held his first couture show in the salon, ladders had just been removed that morning

February 12, 1947It was the looked that changedEverything

“The Bar Suit” dubbed the New Look by Bazaar Editor in Chief Carmel Snow

“It’s quite a revolution Christian! Your dresses have such a new look!”

His designs trumpeted an end to war time restrictions and refocused fashion on femininity and luxury

90 looks in that first collection

Designing “flower women” in an effort to simply make women happy

GrowthIn 1948, Dior launched a ready-to-wear store on Fifth Avenue in NYC as well as the first House of Dior parfum: Miss Dior

In 1949, realizing the importance of the whole look, Dior was the first couturier to arrange licensed production of his work (hats, gloves, hosiery)

In 1955, the young designer Yves Saint Laurent became Dior’s assistant and would be appointed successor of the House at the age of 21

Dior suffered a fatal heart attack while vacationing in Italy in 1957 (his 3rd which he seemed to anticipate)

Yves Saint Laurent Helmed the House of Dior until he was

conscripted into the army.

Marc Bohan took his place.

The Slim LookMarc Bohan took the helm of Dior in 1960 and remained there until 1989

He was very successful in redefining Dior as fashion evolved and was known for creating The Slim Look

Bohan’s first collection in 1961 was met with “pandemonium”

Inspired by the 1920’s with double-breasted jackets, straight lines, and short chiffon dresses, the collection signaled a comeback for the House which had struggled under YSL’s tenure

Bohan had been in the haute couture since 1945 and he understood his patron better than the young YSL

In 1978, the Boussan Group filed for bankruptcy and all of its assets, including Dior, were sold to the Willot Group who would later sell it to Bernard Arnault of LVMH

Marc Bohan was replaced in 1989

LVMH is the world leader in high end luxury brands. Its portfolio today includes labels like Marc Jacbos, Donna Karan, Givenchy, and Celine.

Arnault is still majority stakeholder and chairman of Dior.

Gianfranco Ferre

Ferre was stylistic director of the House until 1997

Known as the architect of fashion, his aesthetic was a perfect match

His appointment by Arnault was extremely controversial as

he was a “foreigner”

He claimed later to have turned Dior into something real and alive

without betraying the luxe factor or the client

John GallianoIn 1997, Bernard Arnault appointed British

designer John Galliano saying that Galliano shared a creative talent very close to Dior

“He has he same extraordinary mixture of romanticism, feminism and modernity that

symbolized Monsieur Dior”

Galliano was creative director until 2011 and was known for his over-the-top runway shows, both in

production and location

His first runway show for Dior coincided with the 50th Anniversary of the House and the

Paris Grand Hotel was staged in an effort to replicate that first show in February 1947

Nicole Kidman was one of the first to wear Galliano for Dior on the red carpet

Raf SimonsIn Feburary of 2011, the night before John Galliano was to show what would was unknown to the world at the time to be his final show, Galliano had a drunken altercation with a couple in a Paris cafe. The event, an anti-Semitic rant, is caught on film. He was dismissed from Dior, officially, in March.

Until April of 2012, Galliano’s design director, Bill Gayten, headed the House until, after much speculation, Raf Simons was appointed artistic director

Considered one of the most influential designers of the last decade by Cathy Horyn of the NYT, Simons came to Dior from Jil Sander

His first collection, which reinterpreted and modernized the Bar suit jacket, was met with rave reviews

To the FutureWhen asked about his vision for Dior’s future, Raf Simons is clear about one thing: It’s not about theatrics

He holds strong to M Dior’s “ultimate obsession is that he wanted [the public] to wear it. [He wanted] them to wear it on the street.”

Simons says if it doesn’t relate to the outside, then it would be theatrical to him. In his opinion, Dior was never about theatrics.

“Fashion people routinely describe any change of command in terms of a papal ascension. But this time the sense [is] legitimate” -- New York Times

Mark ShawMark Shaw was an iconic photographer who documented the world of Parisian fashion

Dior was his primary focus

His photos were some of the first ever shot in color

His photojournalistic style changed fashion photography forever