Christian Dior: An Empire, by the name of the Luxury

When Christian Dior was a young man, the Gypsy fortune predicted that poverty would be expected in the future, but women will bring a bit of good luck – thanks to the beautiful half of mankind, he will succeed and become a prosperous person. Then the 14-year-old Christian scoffed at these words sceptically. His father was a successful businessman and wanted the boy to engage in a diplomatic career, ignoring the young man’s desire to become an artist. Christian was forced to go to the Paris School of Political Science. However, this did not prevent him from engaging in art: Dior and his friend opened a picture gallery and actively involved in the sale of antiques.

The way to the dream

Christian was as a son of a Parisian bohemian when in 1931 he lost his mother, and his father was betrayed by a partner. The family went bankrupt and Christian had to return to his childish passion – drawing. He outlined a few sketches of dresses and hats that the influential “Figaro” newspaper bought. Having received the first fee, Christian realized that his childish hobby could bring profits and he began to cooperate with fashion magazines, creating sketches of clothing for the famous couturier.

In 1946, Dior opened his studio, and already in the following year he was enthusiastic about introducing his first collection – New Look with flared skirts and an understated waist. It was a revolution in the post-war fashion, as the fashion designer taught women to draw attention to their beauty. In 1948, the Dior boutique appeared in New York, and a year later, the brand licensed accessories, fur and bags under its name.

In the rays of glory

Immediately after remarkable success, Dior presents his new Miss Dior fragrance. The next step was the discovery of the entire section of cosmetics Dior, which was supposed to be part of the look of the woman. By the way, Dior has introduced fashion to matte lipstick.

In 1955 Fashion House launched its own Bijoux line of costume jewellery. After, Christian Dior began to use mountain crystals in his products, while worked along with Daniel Swarovski. This is how the Dior Fine Jewellery jewellery department was opened within the Dior brand.

Big changes

In 1957, the founder of the fashion empire suddenly died and his former assistant Yves Saint Laurent became a leader, becoming the youngest couturier in the world (he was only 21). In his first collection named Trapezius, the designer slightly weakened the body-shaped shapes that dominated during Christian Dior time and presented a completely new, trapezoidal silhouette. When in 1960 Yves Saint Laurent was summoned to the army, his place was taken by Marc Bohan, who headed the Fashion House for almost three decades (until 1989). The French designer presented the so-called Slim Look – a softer and more flexible adaptation of the canonical silhouette of Dior.

The successor to Bohan was the Italian Gianfranco Ferre – the first foreign designer, invited to work at Christian Dior. Ferre returned the aesthetics of the founder of the House of Christian Dior, betting on a relief silhouette, a sophisticated décor and a truly French chic. Not surprisingly, his first collection was perfectly accepted by the audience. However, Ferre’s triumph was relatively short – he left the brand in 1996 and John Galliano took his place – the most eccentric of all Dior House designers. Annually he released 12 collections, each of which made a new look at the fashion world. However, in February 2011, he was relieved of his work for anti-Semitic statements, and in April next year, Raf Simons was invited to his post. By that time Raf had already worked with several well-known brands and had his own line of clothes. Despite the fact that the designer has never before engaged in the release of couture collections, his work at Dior has a great success. At the end of 2015, Raf Simons decided to leave the post of chief designer of the eminent Fashion House.

In 2016, the well-known feminist Maria Grazia Chiuri becomes the creative director. She is actively promoting her views and in the Dior, the apogee can be considered the release of T-shirts with the words “We should all be feminists”. However, Chiuri’s advanced looks are not limited to this. It is under her guidance Dior, for example, has launched the first retrospective in the USA.

Modern Dior

Today, brand stores operate in 43 countries, with 76,000 employees and an annual turnover of 21 billion euros. The most expensive gown in the history of Oscar was created by the Dior Fashion House for Jennifer Lawrence in 2013. It cost 4 million dollars. The Dior wedding dress has become an exhibit of the largest gallery in Australia – the Victoria National Gallery. She was created for the famous bride named Miranda Kerr, based on Princess Monaco Grace Kelly’s dress.