Despite the fact that Dior received only the first vivid impressions of life in Normandy – at the age of five his family moved to Paris – he subsequently included a coat named after his birthplace in each of his collections.
Christian was able to open his fashion house when he was already quite mature, at the age of 41 after returning from the front and the end of World War II. In 1946, in Paris, with the support of French businessman Marcel Boussac, he founded the Christian Dior Fashion House, but its official opening date is 1947, the day Christian’s first haute couture collection was presented.
What was it about? The return of women to the world of femininity. The inspiration for 90 images were flowers: blooming buds, the shimmer of petals in the sunlight, the dizzying scents of fields dotted with beauty. And the muse is the mother of Madeleine Dior. The motive of flowers will become the main one in the work of the fashion house.
In the post-war years, the fair sex was already fully accustomed to practical, not bright and unified clothes that did not emphasize a sophisticated figure. Corsets and crinolines seemed to be completely forgotten. At this time, Dior appears and shows on the catwalk dresses with a narrow waist and a fluffy skirt reaching mid-calf, a neckline and open shoulders … Subsequently, all this will become a recognizable handwriting of the fashion designer. . The collection was an instant hit and Christian Dior literally woke up famous. And in fashion, thanks to the words of Carmela Snow, editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar, a new term New Look appeared, which characterized couturier’s clothes. There was also discontent among the public, but where without them. The aspiring fashion designer did not seek to make a revolution in fashion, he only felt the true nature of a woman who went into hiding after the war.
Unfortunately, it took only ten years to create Dior.
Seven things invented and revived by Christian Dior that revolutionized the world of fashion and have not lost their relevance so far
Jacket le Bar
1955 Christian Dior at the show rehearsal. A model displays a Le Bar jacket. Photo: Keystone-FranceGamma-Rapho via Getty Images
A high waisted jacket, spectacular peplum and triangle neckline was included in Christian Dior’s debut collection. He suggested wearing a jacket with a full Corolle skirt or a mid-length pencil skirt. Architecturally, the couturier calculated everything so finely that in the end the jacket fits all types of figures. To achieve this perfect fit, Dior himself reshaped the wooden mannequin with a hammer, adding more pronounced curves to it. In various transformations, the le Bar jacket is present in almost all of the Maison’s collections to this day (with the exception of a brief period under the leadership of the young Yves Saint Laurent).
Corolle puffed skirt
Christian Dior knew that the more magnificent the folds on the skirt, the more visually elegant the female ankle appears. A model in a Dior dress, 1954. Photo: Mark Shaw/Getty Images
Corolle in French means “corolla of flowers”. Women in such skirts are really like flowers: when walking, the fabric moves like a bud when the wind blows. Corolle is not a flared model, that is, it smoothly expands downward. Thanks to the Dior cut, the waist was visually emphasized, and the fluffy skirt at the bottom gave additional elegance to the female ankles. The fashion designer suggested wearing such skirts with high-heeled shoes and fitted low-cut tops.
Pencil skirt as we know it today
The pencil skirt appeared in the Dior H-line collection. 1954 Christian Dior classified the types of female figures by letters: “H” – straight, broad shoulders and a not pronounced waist. “V” – wide shoulders and narrow hips. “A”: narrow shoulders, wide waist and wide hips. “X”: straight shoulders, narrow waist, wide hips. Photo: Mark Shaw/Getty Images
Today such a skirt is almost the main thing in a woman’s wardrobe. She can make both a seductive and a strict image at the same time; it all depends on the top and shoes on it. As an item of clothing, the pencil skirt made its way into the fashion world long before the advent of fashion designer Christian Dior. But it was he who popularized it. Christian Dior presented his reincarnation of the “pencil” in 1954, together with a collection of H-silhouette items: these were straight lines, which, together with Dior’s signature black strap, visually emphasized or heightened the waist, slimmed down and elongated the legs. . , giving an attractive accent to the hips. A couturier’s pencil skirt should be below the knee length.
points OR points. or “peas”
1954 Photo: Mark Shaw/Getty Images
A polka dot dress, like a pencil skirt, is probably in the wardrobe of every modern fashionista. In the language of fashion, romantic “polka dots” sound like a polka dot print. And in this world it made a place for itself thanks to the Christian Dior collection in 1954, which turned the print into a classic. The model in a polka-dot dress with pearl decoration and long gloves literally wowed everyone at the time. And soon “Dior-like peas” began to appear everywhere, from swimsuits to hats, movie stars and housewives wore it.
flowers and jewelry
1954 Photo: Mark Shaw/Getty Images
The theme of flowers will accompany the fashion designer Christian Dior throughout the entire period of his activity. He released two collections a year, and in each one there was always a place for flowers in one form or another. After the couturier’s death, the entire history and aesthetics of the fashion house are still associated with the floral theme.
How did he incarnate this motif? These were bright prints on light fabrics, and the cut itself, as well as the colors chosen for clothes, which looked like petals of fresh buds: soft pink, cream-white, scarlet or a blue bell … He considered the queen of gardens a rose – decoration in the form of roses is often found in their outfits. And the dresses she created were constantly compared to tulips and other flowers.
Photo: www.1stdibs.com
Dior gave his “flowers” another direction of life: he introduced costume jewelry into fashion, the most famous motif of which was the lily-of-the-valley brooch. This is Christian’s mother’s favorite flower, and he sincerely believed that the lily of the valley brings her good luck. In each of his shows for at least one model, he always added a lily of the valley in some way to the image. There were rumors that the couturier sewed sprigs of lily of the valley into the folds of the dresses before the shows.
pumps with heels
House of Dior, 1953 Christian Dior called gray the symbol of elegance. Photo: Mark Shaw/Getty Images
Dior did not design bombs. Nerd! He just made them great. From his first collection to his last, there always have been. Today, millions of women have such a shoe model, modernized by the spirit of the times, and pumps cannot go out of fashion.
Black leather waistband
1953 Photo: Mark Shaw/Getty Images
Narrow or wide (more often narrow), focusing on the waist, the black strap has become another elegant signature touch in Christian Dior’s symphony of style. Today it is difficult to imagine a stylish wardrobe without this accessory. Kristan suggested that it should be displayed and worn over a white blouse, jacket, dress and even a coat, just a little black detail, but any look immediately gets chic.
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This is just a bit of the legacy left by the great couturier. During the ten years that he worked, he did as much for the development of fashion as many fashion designers probably did not in his lifetime in a few dozen creative years. On October 24, 1957, while on vacation in Italy, Christian Dior died of a heart attack. It seemed that the Dior fashion house would go after its creator. But it persevered and has become one of the most expensive luxury brands in the world today. And Christian Dior’s lessons in style and taste are used by fashionistas on every continent on Earth.
