Happy Birthday Christian Dior, the graceful dictator of fashion was born on 21 January 1905
Christian Dior would have been 119 years old today. We remember Monsieur with his story
Today is Christian Dior’s birthday. The dictator of fashion, born on 21 January 1905, would have been 119 years old today. But his memory is vivid.
Christian Dior: the biography in the Encyclopaedia of Fashion
Let us tell, although it is difficult to do so in one article, his incredible story. His most detailed biography can be found in the Encyclopaedia of Fashion. The encyclopaedic work, in collaboration with Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana and Banca Intesa Sanpaolo, boasts more than 4,800 headwords, each of them constantly updated.
Monsieur is considered one of the greatest creators of mid-twentieth-century fashion, along with his colleagues Balmain and Balenciaga. After the war, he succeeded in bringing Paris back to the centre of fashion. On 12 February 1947, he amazed the world with his first independent collection, the Corolla line. The line was immediately dubbed New Look by the voice – and pen – of Carmel Snow, editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar.
In the eyes of the population, harassed by the horrendous wave of hatred of the war, the New Look is a symbol of hope for a future lived in prosperity.
‘The Bar’, a dress complemented by a jacket, is the best-selling garment in his collections. The skirt is made of pleated wool, mid-calf length, and paired with a cream-coloured shantung jacket with a marked waist. The new femininity is embodied by the narrow waist, rounded shoulder and convex skirt.
“I designed dresses for floral women, with rounded shoulders, feminine busts and narrow waists on huge unfolded skirts. An ethereal look that can only be achieved with elaborate technique,’ she writes.
But what is the real story behind the Bar jacket? Find out here.
The details of Dior’s New Look line
The collection celebrates the return of the hourglass shape that contrasts with the lines in vogue in the 1920s and 1930s. Thanks to the financing of textile manufacturer Marcel Boussac, Christian Dior was able to use sumptuous fabrics, giving a new interpretation of the romantic fashion of the Belle Époque. The New Look also found its followers in the most important fashion photographers in history such as Richard Avedon.
The look immortalised by Avedon, starring the model Renée, consists of a jacket with padded shoulders with whalebone splints to narrow the waist and edged with astrakhan fur. There is also a voluminous godet skirt and a military-inspired hat.
But there is also an opposing faction that judges Dior’s collection to be a waste. To the austerity of the collection a few years later, three new lines advanced: H, A and Y. This happened in 1955.
On Dior’s birthday, loves and death of a polite dictator of fashion
Dior had a troubled love life. All his lovers are attracted to his power but unwilling to lie with him. The only man to get into his good graces is a handsome young man of North African origin, a certain Jacques Benita. He decided to improve his appearance by opting, against the wishes of his dear seer Madame Delahaye, to spend time in Montecatini to undergo a slimming diet.
On the tenth day after his departure, 23 October 1957, Dior fell ill and died of a heart attack at the age of 52.
Conclusion: Today is Christian Dior’s birthday. The dictator of fashion, born on 21 January 1905, would have been 119 years old today. But his memory is vivid.
Read more:
Dior at Paris Fashion Week 2023
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