History

 

Christian Dior was born on January 21, 1905, in Normandy, France. The Dior family made their money in a fertilizer industry. He studied political science in 1920-1925, in Paris. For extra money he sold fashion sketches for 10 cents each. In 1928, Dior opened his own art gallery. His father helped him with expenses, but told him he couldn't use the family name for the gallery. Dior's gallery displayed artist work from Picasso to Max Jacob. Later, he decided to pursue fashion and closed the gallery. In 1946, he opened a fashion house, calling his collection "Corolle" then gained the name of the "New Look." Dior died on October 23, 1957, from a heart attack while on vacation in Montecatini, Italy. 

Breaking into Fashion 

Ever since Dior could remember, he always wanted to work in the art. In 1939, World War II, Dior was an officer. During the war he dressed wives of the Nazi officers and the French collaborators. Dior later met Marcel Boussac, "The King of Cotton." Dior then told Boussac his theory about the new style for after the war. 

   

  Style 

Christian Dior was known for his great post war time wear. He wanted women to wear more feminine clothes.  He made great silhouettes, a Zig Zag Line, A Line, Y Line, Arrow Line, and more. Dior's collections were always recognized with the best in tailoring, and beautiful fabrics: satins, traditional suiting, fine wools, taffetas.

Inspiration

 Dior’s lived the life he dreamed ever since he was a young boy. His inspiration came from the world of the intellectual, he lived with people as in Erik Satie, Francis Poulenc, Henry Sauguet, Jean Cocteau, and Raoul Dufy.

Today

Dior passed away in 1957, Yves Saint Laurent became the new head designer. In Saint Laurent's first collection he introduced the trapeze dress. In 1960, Saint Laurent was called for a military duty, then designer Marc Bohan took over the company until 1989. Once designer Bohan left the company, Gianfranco Ferre was the new designer. The House of Dior today has menswear, fragrances, accessories, beauty products, handbags, and shoes. The accessory line has belts, scarves, hats, and eyewear.

Conclusion 

Christian Dior achieved what he always dreamed ever since he was a child. Being a master at what he loved to do best, people always wanted to see what he thought of next. A newspaper from France called Le Monde called him a man that was “identified with good taste, the art of living and refined culture that epitomises Paris to the outside world”. 

Introducing Christian Dior

Christian Dior was a master of silhouettes and designing different shapes for his clothes. His style was different from other designers because of it's uniqueness. His formula for his collections were; one third new, one third proven classics and one third adaptations for familiar designs. Dior quoted, "Zest is the secret of all beauty. There is no beauty that is attractive without zest." Making highly luxurious structured clothes, Dior gave women a form no one else was able to give. He lined his designs with corsets, soft shoulders, hip padding, waspy waists, and petticoats that flared to give shape for dresses. "I have designed flower women." -Christian Dior