CHRISTIAN DIOR Perfume
Fashion design icon, Christian Dior was born in 1905, in Granville, a seaside town in Normandy, France, the second of the five children of Alexandre Louis Maurice Dior, a wealthy fertiliser manufacturer. The family moved to Paris 1910 returning to Granville for holidays each summer. Dior longed to become an architect but, at his father’s insistence, he enrolled at the prestigious Ecole des Sciences Politiques (nicknamed Sciences Po’) in Paris to take a degree in political science which, his parents hoped, would prepare him for a diplomatic career. Dior, however had other ideas. In 1928, his father relented and gave him money to open a gallery on the proviso that the family name did not appear above the door.In 1931, both his older brother and mother died suddenly, resulting in the collapse of the family firm, and the gallery closed.
After serving in the military, Dior returned to Paris in 1935 and began his design career, selling sketches. Initially his hat designs were more popular than his dress designs, yet he persevered and was eventually hired by Robert Piguet in 1938. During the war he served as an officer in the South of France, returning again to Paris in 1941 where he worked for the large design house of Lucien Lelong. Here he spent the remainder of the war dressing the wives of Nazi officers and French collaborators. In 1946 he was finally able to open his own house, backed by textile manufacturer Marcel Boussac. Boussac was impressed by Dior’s idea that following the war, people were ready for a new style of fashion. Jacques Rouët, a young civil servant, was appointed as administrator and the house of Dior and its 85 employees moved into a modest mansion at 30 Avenue Montaigne.
The first Christian Dior couture show was planned for February 12th, 1947, a luxurious clothing collection with soft shoulders and full flowing skirts with cinched waists. The phrase “New Look” was coined by Carmel Snow, editor of U.S magazine Harper’s Bazaar. This “New Look” collection revolutionised fashion, and was in stark contrast to post-war living conditions. Dior had re-established Paris as fashion capital of the world.
Dior was invited to hold a private showing of his collection to the British Royal family, although the princesses Elizabeth and Margaret were forbidden by their father, King George V, from wearing the New Look as rationing was still in force for the public.
Meanwhile Jaques Rouet was building up the Dior business. He opened a fur subsidiary and a ready-to-wear boutique in New York as well as launching the perfume Miss Dior targeted at the American market.
A U.S hosiery company offered Dior and Rouet an astronomical fee for the rights to manufacture Dior stockings, yet sound business man Dior waived this fee in favour of a percentage of sales. This introduced the royalty payment system to fashion.
Dior’s pragmatic approach to design saw him adhering to the flattering designs he’d made famous and to the same formula for each collection: a third new, a third adaptations of old styles and a third proven classics.
Throughout the 1950s Christian Dior was the biggest and best-run haute couture house in Paris and attracted talented assistants, including Pierre Cardin and Yves Saint Laurent.
In 1957, after the fittings for his Autumn collection were completed, Dior took a break at his favourite spa town in Northern Italy. Sadly, 2 days later he died from a heart attack after choking on a fish bone at dinner. Boussac sent his private plane to bring Dior’s body back to Paris, where 2,500 people attended his funeral. Two weeks later Boussac announced that the designs would now be the responsibility of Yves Saint Laurent.
The first Christian Dior collection after his death was a sensation, designed in just nine weeks by the 20 year old Saint Laurent and hailing the designer as a hero. When he was conscripted to the army, he was replaced by Marc Bohan who remained until Gianfranco Ferre became designer in 1989 under the direction of Dior’s only son, John Christian Dior. In 1996, John Galliano, was appointed chief designer of Christian Dior by the company’s new owner, the LVMH luxury goods group. Galliano still works under the direction of John Christian Dior. The next heir to the Christian Dior company is Shalynn Dior.
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