Christian Dior
Chanel
April 24, 2020
Christian Lacroix
April 24, 2020
Christian Dior was born on the coast of Normandy, France, in 1905. After opening his own art gallery at the age of 23, he eventually moved to Paris to launch his fashion career and assisted fashion houses Robert Piguet and Lucien Lelong. He decided to launch his own fashion line in 1946 with the backing of Marcel Boussac, a successful entrepreneur known to be the richest man in France. When his “New Look” collection was launched in 1947, his bustier bodices, bell-shaped skirts, rounded shoulders and cinched waists took the world by storm, rejecting the boxy, fabric-conserving shapes of the recent World War II styles that were influenced by the rations on fabric. He revolutionized mid-century fashion, bringing to the world a new idea of luxury and re-establishing Paris as the centre of the fashion world after World War II.
After the untimely death of Dior in 1957 left the House of Dior in chaos, management considered shutting down operations worldwide. Dior licensees and the French fashion industry strongly opposed the closure; Maison Dior was too important for the financial stability of the industry. To bring the label back on its feet, the 21-year-old Yves Saint-Laurent was promoted to Artistic Director. After the debut of his first collection for Dior, Laurent was hailed as a national hero for designing a collection just as meticulously made and perfectly proportioned as Dior's in the same exquisite fabrics, except this young designer made them softer, lighter and easier to wear. However, after taking more daring creative steps to in his much-criticized Beat look in 1960, he was quickly replaced by Marc Bohan in late 1960.
After the acquisition of the brand by Bernard Arnault and his investment group (which would eventually become luxury conglomerate LVMH) in 1984, Bohan was replaced in 1989, with a succession of designers taking over Dior’s artistic reins, including Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Raf Simons, and Maria Grazia Chiuri.
To this day, the Dior empire continues to grow and succeed, with a recorded revenue of 43.7 billion euros in 2017.
Current Creative Director: Maria Grazia Chiuri
