Dior, Christian.
French Designer
Although Christian Dior died in 1957, he is perhaps one of the most famous fashion designers
of the 20th century.
In the years after the debut of his first collection in 1947 he was a
legendary figure and the world press developed
an extraordinary love affair with him,
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increasing
their enthusiasm with each new collection. Dior never disappointed them, constantly creating
clothes that were newsworthy as well as beautiful.
Dior was middle-aged when he achieved fame. A sensitive and gentle personality, he had
previously worked as a fashion illustrator, then as a design assistant for both Robert Piguet
and Lucien Lelong in Paris. In 1946 the French textile magnate Marcel Boussac offered to finance
the opening of Dior's own couture house and secured the lease on 30 avenue Montaigne, Paris.
The first collection was revolutionary, heralded as the "New Look" by the fashion press. Diorhimself had christened it the "Corolle Line." It was a composition of rounded shoulders, shapely
emphasis of the bust, cinched waist, and curvaceous bell-shaped skirt in luxurious fabric.
The concept of the collection was not new, bearing a striking resemblance to French fashions of
the 1860s. Dior himself attributed his inspiration to the pretty, elegant clothes he had
remembered his mother wearing to the Deauville races in the 1900s.
Even though several other designers had experimented with or predicted the new silhouette, Dior's luxurious version reawakened the world to the importance of Parisian couture. At a
standstill during World War II, Paris had lost its way as the world's fashion capital. Dior
reestablished it as a centre of excellence, creating what Janey Ironside of the Royal College
of Art in London described as "a new chance in life, a new love affair."
There were many criticisms of the New Look. Feminists have argued that it was an attempt to
return women to an oppressed, decorative role with its emphasis on the restrictive padding,
corset, and crinoline. Others were shocked by the extravagant use of ornament and fabric metreage
when clothes were still being rationed. The New Look, however, rapidly became a postwar cultural
symbol for what Dior himself described as "Youth, hope, and the future."
After creating a furor with his first collection, Dior established himself as a cautious,
methodical designer. Each collection that followed was a continuation of the New Look theme
of highly constructed clothes. They were christened with names that described their silhouettes,
the ZigZag Line, A Line, Y Line, Arrow Line, etc. All the collections were realized with the finest
tailoring and the most sumptuous fabrics: satins, traditional suiting, fine wools, taffetas, and
lavish embroideries.
Throughout Dior's ten years of fame, none of his collections failed, either critically or
commercially. The only threat to his run of success occurred when Chanel made a fashion comebackin 1954 at the age of 71. Chanel's philosophy, that clothes should be relaxed, ageless, dateless,
and easy to wear, completely opposed Dior's philosophy. "Fifties Horrors," was how she described
male couturiers, deploring them for torturing bodies into ridiculous shapes. Dior's reaction was
to introduce his most unstructured collection, the "Lily of the Valley Line," was young, fresh,
and unsophisticated. Relaxed, casual jackets with pleated skirts and sailor-collared blouses,
clothes that "Couldn't be easier," described Vogue.
By the time Dior died his name had become synonymous with taste and luxury. The business had
an estimated turnover of 20 million dollars a year, thanks in part to Dior's own shrewdness.
Dior organized licence agreements to manufacture Dior accessories internationally. By the
time Dior died, perfume, furs, scarves, corsetry, knitwear, lingerie, costume jewellery, and
shoes were being produced.
Many of Dior's associates have said that his death was timely and that his work and fashion
philosophy were entirely suited to his period. It would be interesting to speculate how Dior
would have adapted to the excesses of fashion in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, because, as his
former personal assistant, Madame Raymonde, once said, "if Dior had lived, fashion would not
be in the state it is in now."
Extract from “Contemporary Fashion”, written by Richard Martin. Detroit: St. James Press, 1995.
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