HISTORY ABOUT DIOR
Discover the richness of the House Through the work of Christian Dior.
1905---Birth of Christian Dior
Childhood in Granville
“My childhood home was rendered in a very soft pink, combined with gray gravel, and these two shades have remained my favorite colors in couture.’
-----Christian Dior, Dior by Dior, 1958
Christian Dior is born in Granville, Normandy, on January 21, to Alexandre Louis Maurice Dior and Marie-Madeleine Dior (née Martin), the second of five children. The family is comfortably off thanks to its fertilizer and chemicals manufacturing business founded in 1832.
Christian Dior at 1 year of age, January 1906.
1906------Les Rhumbs
The Dior family settles in Les Rhumbs villa, in the heights of Granville.
The Dior Family in the garden of Les Rhumbs Villa, circa 1912.
1910------Paris
The Dior family moves to the 16th arrondissement of Paris, keeping the Les Rhumbs villa for holidays and family gatherings.
Les Rhumbs villa, circa 1915.
1920------Golden youth
During the 1920s, Christian Dior frequents the cultural milieu in Paris and makes friends with the artists of the time.
Portrait of Christian Dior by Paul Strecker, 1928.
Christian Dior and Christian Bérard at the flea market, circa 1930.
"How did I get to know my friends? Through those mysterious laws that Goethe called elective affinities. We were just a simple gathering of painters, writers, musicians, and designers, under the aegis of Jean Cocteau and Max Jacob."
-----Christian Dior, Dior by Dior, 1958
1928------Galerie Jacques Bonjean
Christian Dior opens an art gallery with his friend Jacques Bonjean at 34 rue La Boétie. “Our ambition,” he said in 1956, “was to have shows there centred on the masters we admired most: Picasso, Braque, Matisse, and Dufy, and the painters we knew personally and already held in high esteem: Christian Bérard, Salvador Dalí, Max Jacob, the Berman brothers…” In 1932, he enters into a partnership with Pierre Colle to open another gallery at 29 rue Cambacérès. In 1933 they hold an exhibition dedicated to Surrealism.
Invitation to La Galerie Jacques Bonjean, circa 1930.
Man Ray, Surréaliste exhibition, Galerie Pierre Colle, Paris, 1933.
1931------Death of Madeleine Dior
Dior’s mother dies. Due to bad investments, his father’s business collapses.
Madeleine Dior.
1935------Christian Dior illustrator
Christian Dior starts to sell his drawings to milliners and couture houses including Jean Patou, Schiaparelli, Maggy Rouff, Worth, Balenciaga, Molyneux, and Paquin. He also works as an illustrator for Le Figaro newspaper and Jardin des Modes magazine.
Illustrations by Christian Dior in the women’s pages of Le Figaro, 4 and 11 May 1939.
"In 1938, Piguet asked me to go and work for him as a house designer. I was thrilled at the offer and instantly accepted. At last, I would get to know the mysterious means by which an idea is transformed into a dress; I would make a shy, but fascinated, entrance into the universe of premières and workrooms."
-----Christian Dior, Dior by Dior, 1958
 at Robert Piguet.jpg)
Christian Dior (right) at Robert Piguet, circa 1939. Photograph by Willy Maywald.
1939-1940------Mobilization in the army
Christian Dior is called up for military service. Demobilized the following year, he joins his father and sister in Callian, in the south of France.
Christian Dior during his mobilization in the 47th Engineering Company, circa 1940.
1941-1946------Lucien Lelong
Christian Dior is employed by the house of Lucien Lelong as a designer.
Sketch of a design for Lucien Lelong, circa 1944.
"Paul Caldaguès introduced me to Lucien Lelong, who engaged me right there and then. The House of Lelong was an excellent couture school. At Lelong, which was a much larger house than Piguet, I learned a tremendous amount more about my new profession."
-----Christian Dior, Dior by Dior, 1958
1944------Catherine Dior
>His sister Catherine is denounced as a résistante (member of the French Resistance) and deported to Ravensbrück, from which she is liberated in 1945.
Catherine Dior, circa 1940
1946-------Creation of Christian Dior's fashion house
Christian Dior and the industrialist Marcel Boussac join forces to create the Christian Dior couture house. On December 16, the couture house opens at 30 Avenue Montaigne, with three ateliers and a staff of 85 people.
Christian Dior Fashion Designer, Marcel Boussac.
"It was in 1946 that I moved into 30 Avenue Montaigne. This delightful house then had enough elegant rooms and salons, sufficient nooks and crannies to contain all eighty-five of us."
-----Christian Dior, Dior by Dior, 1958
Christian Dior
1947------First collection
The first collection, Spring–Summer 1947, is presented on February 12, in the salons of 30 Avenue Montaigne. Dior names his new lines Corolle and En 8. Carmel Snow, the editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar, declares: “My dear Christian, your dresses have such a New Look!”
First Christian Dior Fashion Show, Spring-Summer 1947. Presentation of the Jungle dress during the first fashion show, 1947.
1947------Parfums Christian Dior
On March 4, Christian Dior Parfums is founded and Dior’s childhood friend, Serge Heftler-Louiche, is appointed director. The first perfume, Miss Dior, is launched in December.
Miss Dior perfume, 1947
On 9 September 1947, in Dallas, Christian Dior being rewarded the Fashion Oscar by Stanley Marcus.
1948-------Christian Dior-New York
Christian Dior-New York opens on Fifth Avenue with an exclusive collection of luxury ready-to-wear and accessories created on the premises. Christian Dior Perfumes New York Inc. is launched the same year.
Sketch for the Spring-Summer 1952 Christian Dior-New York collection.
1948------Milly-la-Forêt
Christian Dior buys the Moulin du Coudret, an old mill at Milly-la-Forêt near Paris, where he can relax between collections.
Moulin du Coudret, an old mill at Milly-la-Forêt near Paris.
1949------Launch of Diorama's perfume
Diorama perfume, 1949.
1950------Legion of Honor
Christian Dior is awarded the French Legion of Honor for his contribution to the textile industry and fashion craftsmanship.
Christian Dior being awarded the Legion of Honor by James de Coquet, senior reporter at Le Figaro, in his estate in Milly-la-Forêt, 9 February 1950.
1950------Show in London
On April 26, he presents his collection to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret at the French embassy in London.
Presentation of Haute Couture collection Spring-Summer 1950 at the Savoy Hotel in London, 25 April 1950.
1950------La Colle noire
Christian Dior buys the Château de La Colle Noire in Montauroux, in the South of France.
Christian Dior amid his vines looking at the Château de La Colle Noire, in Montauroux, circa 1950.
"I dreamed of a residence like those houses in the country, where they brought me to visit older family members and for which I have tender memories. Possibly I am merely giving in to an avowed taste for interior decoration and architecture, my first vocation."
-----Christian Dior, Dior by Dior, 1958
1951---Publication of Je suis couturier (Talking about fashion)
The Dior company has now grown to a staff of 900 people. Following a series of pieces in the magazine ELLE in the summer of 1951, Christian Dior publishes his first book, Je Suis Couturier (published in English as Talking about Fashion in 1954).
An article published in Elle magazine, 27 August 1951.
"There had been striking changes at Avenue Montaigne. Behind the first little house, whose exquisite proportions I would not spoil for the s ake of an empire, rose up a huge building of nine floors."
-----Christian Dior, Dior by Dior, 1958
1952------Christian Dior London
Christian Dior (C.D.) Models Ltd. is established in London.
Label of the Symphonie dress, circa 1955. Collection Dior Héritage.
1953------Caracas
The first Christian Dior boutique in Latin America opens in Caracas, Venezuela. An almost exact replica of 30 Avenue Montaigne, it is staffed by personnel trained in France to produce the Parisian collections made-to-measure for the new clientele.
Presentation brochure for the House of Christian Dior: companies and associated firms worldwide, 1953.
1953------Roger Vivier
The Christian Dior-Delman company is created, producing custom-made shoes designed by Roger Vivier. Later, in 1958, the brand is replaced by 'Christian Dior by Roger Vivier'.
Versailles pump, 1960. Christian Dior by Roger Vivier.
1953------Moving in on boulevard Jules-Sandeau
Christian Dior moves into an apartment on boulevard Jules-Sandeau, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.
Christian Dior in his private mansion at 7, boulevard Jules-Sandeau, 1957.
1954----Publication of Christian Dior's Little Dictionary of Fashion
Christian Dior’s Little Dictionary of Fashion is published in the United States and Great Britain.
Cover of Christian Dior’s Little Dictionary of Fashion
1954------Fashion Show at Blenheim Palace
On November 3, the Duchess of Marlborough holds a Christian Dior show at Blenheim Palace in the presence of Princess Margaret to raise money for the British Red Cross. With more than 1,600 guests, it establishes the House’s name amid the British aristocracy.
Presentation of the Fall-Winter 1954 collection at Blenheim palace. Footage supplied by British Pathé.
1955-----Opening of the boutique
Opening of the boutique on the corner of avenue Montaigne and rue François 1er, decorated by Victor Grandpierre. Parfums Christian Dior launches its first lipstick boxed sets in 22 different shades.
View of the Christian Dior boutique on the corner of avenue Montaigne and rue François Ier, circa 1960.
A corner in the boutique is dedicated to perfumes, where a few lipsticks are also displayed, circa 1956.
1955-------Sorbonne lecture
On August 3, Christian Dior gives a lecture followed by a fashion show at the Sorbonne's Grand Amphithéâtre in Paris.
Christian Dior and Mrs. Cappelle de Menou are participating in a conference on "The Aesthetics of Fashion", on 3 August 1955 in the Sorbonne's Grand Amphitheatre in Paris.
1956------Publication of Dior by Dior
Christian Dior publishes his autobiography, Dior by Dior, which will be translated into several languages.
Dior by Dior, published by Amiot-Dumont Editions, 1958.
"Talking about the House of Dior drives me inevitably - whether I like it or not - to speak about myself, Christian. It is really difficult to describe oneself. Do we ever know ourselves?"
-----Christian Dior, Dior by Dior, 1958
1956------Diorissimo
Launch of Diorissimo perfume, with lily of the valley as its principal note.
Exceptional edition of Diorissimo perfume in Baccarat clear crystal, 1956.
1957------Time Magazine
On March 4, Christian Dior appears on the cover of Time magazine.
Cover of Time magazine, 4 March 1957.
1957------Death of Christian Dior
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.
Cover of Paris Match magazine, 2 November 1957. Photograph by Jack Garofalo.
`
The End. Thank for Watching 'Christian Dior' History.