Dior, Christian

(1905-1957)

   Born in Normandy, France, as one of five children, Dior exhibited a love of art from his early childhood. When the family moved to Paris, Dior studied economics and painted for pleasure. Family financial difficulties prompted him to begin designing and selling hat designs. He worked for couturiers Robert Piguet and Lucien Lelong and, in 1945, he began a business partnership with the wealthy textile industrialist Marcel Boussac. A quiet and polite gentleman, Dior was very superstitious and in fact selected his \#28-\#30 Montaigne address based on this. Dior opened his own house in 1947 and his first employee was Pierre Cardin.

   With war restrictions over, Dior embraced the full skirt, cinched waist, and mid-calf length, which was called the New Look by Carmel Snow of Harper's Bazaar magazine. Dior named his lines Corolla and Figure of Eight; skirts could take as much as 50 yards of fabric to construct. The fashion world was desperate to see fashion revert to prewar years and Dior's designs made those dreams a reality. During his reign of eleven years, Dior introduced twenty-two different lines. Dior was the true inventor of licensing. As early as 1949 he shared in the profits of copies of his designs and saw opportunities in everything from perfume to shoes.

   The house of Dior continued after the designer's death with Yves Saint Laurent taking over the helm and even included the design of flight attendant uniforms for Air France in 1962. Saint Laurent was followed by Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferre, and John Galliano. Galliano has been known to shake things up at Dior. Not unlike Dior himself, who had his own moments of excitement, whether they be a demonstration over the dangers of wearing his full Corolla skirts or receiving the press while in the bath, Galliano often creates over-the-top theatrical performances at Dior and is confident the "Master" approves. The twenty-first century has seen a new Dior customer: young, sexy, drawn to the chemistry of the past Dior foundation and demanding the fresh approach of the present.

   See also Copyist; Haute Couture.