Story of Dior
Dior was founded by Christian Dior on 16 December 1946 on 30 Avenue Montaigne, where their impressive atelier and flagship boutique currently stands. Before he launched his brand though, he was a gallerist, an art lover. Due to the Great Depression, he closed his art gallery after the collapse of his father’s business. He then went to work for fashion designer, Robert Piguet, until he was called up to serve in the military.
Post military, he worked with Lucien Long alongside Pierre Balmain, during a time where French ateliers dressed Nazi wives out of self-preservation. After a few years of working there, he decided to establish his own atelier, where he showed his first collection on 12 February 1947. The iconic show where Carmel Snow quickly coined his style ‘The New Look’. In a post war era where women were finally grappling for a place within society, he revolutionised fashion for them.
This brought him international acclaim and allowed him to eventually show his work internationally. He was always a superstitious man, even to this day the brand has retained some of his superstitions. He often consulted with his tarot card reader and believed in superstitions. In 1955, Yves Saint Laurent joined him and became his design assistant, where he decided that he would be his successor. Following his untimely death, 21-year-old Yves Saint Laurent was appointed creative director to help maintain a semblance of order within the house.
After Saint Laurent was called up for military service, Marc Bohan took over the brand and another revolution began. He introduced menswear and debuted the Slim Look. In 1978, the Boussac group which owned Dior filed for bankruptcy and was bought by the Willot group which was then bought by Arnault in 1984 for one symbolic franc.
This changed the trajectory of the brand, Arnault restructured the company with his shrewd business acumen and converted Christian Dior into a holding company while allowing the brand to stand on its own within his group. Gianfranco Ferre then came onboard in 1989 replacing Marc Bohan where he remained until 1997. He was the creative genius behind the Chou Chou, now known as the Lady Dior, it was designed by him as a gift to Princess Diana in 1995.
He was replaced by John Galliano, where Arnault had immense confidence that his style was similar to the late Dior’s. He designed the iconic saddle bag in 1999 and changed the entire outlook of the brand, injecting his unique creative vision that propelled the brand to popularity in the 2000s. He was dismissed from the house in 2011 due to him spouting off anti-semitic slurs in a Paris bar and in 2012 Raf Simons took over.
However, the designer only had a short stint in Dior, announcing his leave in 2015. However, in his short tenure he showed 2 exquisite couture shows and was successful in retaining the look of Dior. After his leave, it brings us to today, where Maria Grazia Chiuri was appointed creative director and still am today.
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