11 facts you don’t know about Dior

We all know the famous Dior brand, but what do we know about Christian Dior, its founder?

Christian Dior, one of the greatest French tailors, was born on January 21, 1905, in the seaside town of Granville.

He was one of the five children of a rich farmer who moved to Paris with his family at the age of 5.

1. Christian Dior’s life before founding Dior

Contrary to the fact that Christian’s family sent him to the Political Science University and wanted him to become a diplomat, he himself was very interested in art and architecture.

He started selling paintings on the side of the street as a teenager and during his studies. But after completing his studies in 1928, his father opened an art gallery for him, where the works of artists like Pablo Picasso were sold.

But unfortunately, in 1929, following the deaths of his mother and brother and the collapse of his father’s business, Dior suffered severe depression and was forced to close his gallery.

And after that, he started working with fashion designer Robert Piguet until he was called up for military service in 1940.

• Christian Dior after military service

After finishing his service in 1942, Dior started his career at Lucien Long, where he and Pierre Balmain were the main designers.

2. Establishment of Dior

After World War II, Dior founded Christian Dior tailoring and a boutique on December 16, 1946. However, the official year of its establishment, 1947, is considered the time of his first collection.

Dior brought Haute Couture back to Paris and changed French fashion forever with his collection called “The New Look.”

I must add that at the time when Dior was designing and selling expensive and luxurious clothes, the world was in poverty due to the World War.

Many people blamed Dior for this reason, but he believed that this was the best time to create these clothes. Because these clothes bring beauty and vitality and help people who are depressed. get out

3. Dior’s New Look collection

On February 12, 1947, Dior unveiled his first collection. He displayed 90 different clothes in this collection and named his collections “Corolle” and

But the name of this collection was quickly changed by Carmel Snow, the editor of Harper’s Bazaar magazine, and was named “New Look.”

Clothes in this collection were very tight and narrow at the waist; skirts were up to the wrists; and cloches were. These clothes gave the body an hourglass shape and made the chest appear fuller.

This collection included other models, which made Paris an exciting fashion capital again.

4. The reputation of Dior

After the New Look collection, the Dior brand quickly gained a reputation for luxury because it used only the best materials. Dior ranked among the best and worked with clients including Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor.

Dior was even invited to hold a private showing of the collection for the British royal family, although George V reportedly dissuaded the young princesses Elizabeth and Margaret from wearing it because of the harsh conditions and poverty at the time. Luxury and expensive clothes were prohibited.

Dior also designed the wedding dress for Farah, the princess of Iran.

5. feminists did not like some Dior products

As I mentioned before, Christian Dior first wanted to be an architect, so he always paid special attention to the forms, lines, and shapes of his designs. This made him always want to achieve a proportional appearance and always emphasize it. It was specially applied on the hips and torso.

like the coat that was in his collection (New Look), it was called BarJacket. This coat was one of the special pieces of this collection, and its waist was narrow and showed the lines and curves of the body beautifully.

For this reason, feminists did not like some of his collections because they thought that women did not feel comfortable wearing clothes that fit the standards set by Dior. While Coco Chanel wanted women to be comfortable, Christian Dior wanted to emphasize the curves of women’s bodies and wanted to show them off.

6. Christian Dior was very superstitious

Christians were very superstitious, a trait that increased with age. For example:

In each collection, he must have put a coat named after his birthplace, Granville.

In every show, at least one bouquet of her favorite flowers, Lily of the Valley, is put on her dress.

And he never planned or started fashion shows without consulting his tarot card reader.

I must add that, because of his superstition, he used things in Farah’s clothes to make Farah’s first child a boy.

7. The Story of Miss Dior Perfume

In November 1948, Dior opened a luxury store called Ready to Wear in New York, which was the best of its kind at that time. And at the same time, he launched Dior Parfums. The first product was Miss Dior, and the following year, Diorama was produced.

Why, then, Miss Dior?

During World War II, Christian Dior’s sister, Catherine Dior, was a member of the French resistance against the Nazi occupation. She was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany, where she remained until her liberation in 1945. As a tribute to his sister, Dior named one of his perfumes “Miss”

The perfume is a blend of different floral scents, and Christine created it based on the scents she remembered from the time they spent in Grasse, in the south of France.

8. Dior hired Yves Saint-Laurent

Yves Saint Laurent was an employee of Dior. In 1955, Yves Saint Laurent was only nineteen years old when he became Dior’s design assistant. Christian Dior later met Yves Saint Laurent’s mother, Lucien Mathieu-Saint Laurent, in 1957 and told her that he had chosen Saint Laurent to succeed him at Dior.

9. untimely death

Shortly after meeting Saint Laurent’s mother, Christian Dior suffered a heart attack on October 24, 1957, and died.

His death came only a few months after he was named the best French tailor in Time magazine.

The ceremony was officiated by the Duchess of Windsor, and around 2,500 people attended the funeral, including all of her famous employees and clients. And at that time, 21-year-old Yves Saint Laurent was appointed as the artistic director and successor of Dior.

10. The situation of Dior after the death of Christian Dior

After Dior’s death, a total of six artistic directors succeeded him, including Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferre, John Galliano, Raf Simons, and Maria Grazia Chiuri.

And each of them has pushed the brand in a different direction and made Dior progress.

• Yves Saint Laurent 

Saint-Laurent remained in his position until he was drafted into the army, was dismissed by Jacques Rout (Dior’s business partner) during his service, and was replaced by Marc Bohan.

• Mark Bohan

Bohan emerged as the successor to the highly successful Saint Laurent, ushering in a new era for Dior. The Slim Look is a more modern and subtle version of Dior’s iconic shape.

• Gianfranco Fareh

After that, in 1989, Gianfranco Fer replaced Marc Bohan as the director of Christian Dior. He remained in this position until 1997.

• John Galliano

After that, in 1997, English designer John Galliano became the head.

Galliano was very creative, and his designs and thoughts were very close to those of Christian Dior. He has the same extraordinary combination of romanticism, feminism, and modernity that is the symbol of Monsieur Dior. In all his designs, there are many similarities to Dior’s style.

Galliano remained Dior’s creative director until March 2011. He was fired after his obscene anti-Semitic remarks and assault on a member of the public while heavily drunk in a bar in Paris.

• Raf Simmons

Bill Guyton, a former assistant to Galliano, led Dior until April 9, 2012, and after a year, it was announced that Raf Simons would run Dior as “artistic director.”

And now Maria Grazia Chiuri is in charge of the artistic management of this collection.

11. Lady Dior bag

A significant moment for the Dior brand was the creation of the famous Lady Dior handbag by Gianfranco Ferré, one of Dior’s artistic directors. This small black leather bag with a delicate so-called rattan pattern (that is, the same stripes that are sewn on the bag), round handles, and gold details became more and more popular when it was noticed by Princess Diana.

In fact, the first lady of France, Bernadette Chirac, gave Diana this beautiful bag at the Cézanne art exhibition in Paris in 1995.

This bag quickly became one of Diana’s favorites and was noticed by other women. Lady Dior handbags finally sold more than 200,000 bags within two years after that. And it has become one of the most successful handbags in the world!