French Maison Christian Dior recently launched a virtual tour to their latest exhibition’s in partnership with Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Titled “Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams,” this exhibition traces the impact of one of the 20th century’s most influential couturiers while exploring the works of the six artistic directors who succeeded him.
“There is no other country in the world, besides my own, whose way of life I like so much. I love English traditions, English politeness, English architecture. I even love English cooking,” a quote from Christian Dior. The designer deeply admired the British way of life, even his first fashion show took place at London’s Savoy Hotel and he then later established the brand as Christian Dior London.
The exhibition also gives insight to Dior’s creative collaborations with jewellers, shoemakers, and glove makers as well as a focus on some of his earliest elite clients. These include author Nancy Mitford, dancer Margot Fonteyn and a special highlight of the Christian Dior dress worn by Princess Margaret for her 21st birthday. The exhibition will presents over 500 objects and over 200 rare Haute Couture garments displayed alongside the designer’s personal possessions. The virtual show reveals the sources of inspiration which help define the Dior aesthetic, from the intricate designs of Yves Saint Laurent to Maria Grazia Chiuri’s feminist vision. Discover the link to the virtual showcase below.
This week The Denver Art Museum (DAM) opens its doors to one of it’s most recent exhibitions entitled Dior: From Paris to the World. The exhibition is in celebration of the legacy of French fashion house Christian Dior and it’s influence on the industry since its inception over 70 years ago. It includes a collection of over 200 haute couture dresses, accessories, photographs, original sketches and runway videos which showcases the visual evolution of the house throughout decades. The exhibition not only highlights the founding father Christian Dior, but also profiles the work of artistic directors Yves-Saint Laurent (1958–1960), Marc Bohan (1961–1989), Gianfranco Ferré (1989–1996), John Galliano (1997–2011), Raf Simons (2012–2015) and Maria Grazia Chiuri (2016–present). “Dior: From Paris to the World will give our visitors insight into the House of Dior’s creative process and inspirations that contributed to its unparalleled impact on the fashion world, which continues to reverberate today,” said Christoph Heinrich, Frederick and Jan Mayer Director of the DAM. “This exhibition encourages audiences to think differently about the boundaries of fashion as art, and advance the museum’s commitment to taking viewers behind the scenes to reveal Dior’s imaginative and innovative endeavours.” Curated by Florence Müller, DAM Avenir Foundation Curator of Textile Art and Fashion, the exhibition will be open from Nov 19, to March 3, 2019.
On the eve of Dior’s 70th birthday, a new documentary goes behind the scenes at one of fashion’s most successful houses to unpack the rich history of the brand. The film follows in the footsteps of the acclaimed documentary Dior and I, which focussed on the run up to Raf Simon’s (then Creative Director at Dior) first collection.
Inside Dior widens the narrative, exploring the brand’s history more widely. It first looks back to the beginnings of the house, with Christian Dior’s iconic ‘New Look’ and follows the evolution the label’s signature feminine aesthetic through to present day, with Maria Grazia Chiuri now at the helm. Highlights include the introduction to Francois Demachy, Dior’s ‘nose’, set the rose and jasmine fields of the South of France, and to makeup director, Peter Philips, as he creates the right catwalk look.
Presented in two parts, this new Dior documentary is vital viewing for those looking for unique insight into one of the most game-changing brands operating today. An aesthetic delight, catch the first episode on More4 this evening.
The world waited unabashedly for Maria Grazia Chiuri’s first Haute Couture collection for Dior, and it did not disappoint. Drawing inspiration from the motif of the labyrinth, the collection embodied Chiuri’s journey to the heart of Dior’s design story.
It was a collection alive with nature: woodland flowers, moss and ferns made up the set and informed the collection in equal measure, inspired by Christian Dior’s statement that: “After women, flowers are the most divine of creations. They are so delicate and charming, but they must be used carefully.”
Silhouettes referenced the original founder of the house too, with cinched waists imbuing ethereal lace dresses and mysterious midnight velvet gowns with an easy elegance. Powder pinks and blues were married with inky blacks, allowing for the full spectrum of characters to be imagined and rendered in Chiuri’s magnificent modern fairy tale.
It’s fair to say that Raf Simons’ couture debut for Dior was the most hotly tipped show in Paris this week. And ever since the industry caught sight of that hot pink floor length bustier, the praise has been ringing in from around the fashion world, with names from Marc Jacobs to Donatella Versace speaking in admiration.
So, unsurprisingly we’re adding our voice to the applause. Truly this was the kind of couture that Twin just gets. There was a lightness of touch to the shapes that were at once a sketch of the past, proving that Simons’ famed minimalism can marry with the most classic of fashion houses.
Dramatic embroidered ball-gowns and cigarette pant suits reached back to the New Look but stripped away the nostalgia in favour of clean lines and brilliant colour that helped reveal the original architecture that made Dior so revolutionary in 1947. This was femininity, but in a way we could all recognise as relevant to contemporary fashion sensibilities, exemplified by the easy elegance of the models’ hands in pockets swagger. Even the abundance of fresh delphiniums and orchids on the walls were a triumph of structure over the riotous bouquet.
While Simons was only appointed four short months ago, we’ve been waiting 18 months to see the direction the house of Dior takes. The verdict fifty-four outfits later? Ok there were echoes of Simons’ later work at Jil Sander, but that’s certainly not a reason to complain. Indisputably the Dior DNA was all there. The collection showed Dior have bagged themselves a designer that’s going to put Dior on our list, and surely every sane fashionistas also.
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