The allure of art prevented the future fashion designer from completing his studies at the Institute of Political Studies, but it helped him conquer the world of high fashion after the age of 40. The legendary couturier dedicated just ten years of his life to clothing design, yet during that time, he left an indelible mark on the fashion industry. To ensure that his name resonated louder after his death than during his life, the founder of his own fashion house simply remained true to his passion.
A Leaning Towards Beauty
Christian Dior’s privileged background set his professional prospects apart from those of his slightly older colleague, Coco Chanel, who had to claw her way to success from poverty, an orphanage, and a background as a mistress. One of five children of a fertilizer merchant, Dior benefited from a wealthy father who provided a carefree start in life. Maurice Dior, hailing from a prosperous family, managed to grow the family fortune through a lucrative business, ensuring that his children wanted for nothing. Their mother, Marie-Madeleine (Isabelle) Marten, had no obstacles to leading a “decorative existence”: in the land of “wine and cheese,” she tended to the beauty of the household and flowerbeds in their splendid garden. Her passion for beauty was inherited by her children, who would tie their lives to the floral business, art sales, and the creation of fashion collections.
Christian Dior in his youth
Christian Dior was born on January 21, 1905, in the port town of Granville in northwestern France, and he always took pride in his Norman roots. At the age of five, he moved with his family from their family estate, Villa Les Rhumbs, to Paris, where his father began investing in profitable real estate. The maternal garden, where the observant boy loved to spend time, remained on the shores of the English Channel, while his dream of studying architecture at the School of Fine Arts was overshadowed by his father’s practical choice. Following his father’s advice, Dior enrolled in the School of Political Science in 1923, setting his sights on a diplomatic career.
The Christian Dior House Museum in Granville
His artistic talents and musical training became unnecessary in his studies: he could now only draw, play the piano, and compose music for his own enjoyment. However, it was easy to “make friends based on interests” in Paris. The city’s cafés always attracted the creative bohemia. Among Christian Dior’s youthful circle were artist Christian Bérard, decorator Georges Geoffroy, designer Jean Ozenne, as well as a poet, writer, and composer. Together with his friend Jean Bonjac, and with financial support from his father, Christian opened an art gallery in 1928, showcasing works by André Derain, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso. “I had enough enthusiasm and friendships for my happiness,” Dior recalled about those connections in his memoirs.
Time for Change
The 1930s began for Dior with tragedies: a series of misfortunes preceded by his brother’s mental illness, cancer took his mother’s life, his father went bankrupt during the crisis, the family lost their property due to debts, and Christian himself fell ill with tuberculosis. The gallery had to close: sales plummeted, and his father no longer had the resources to help. While recovering with friends in the Balearic Islands, Dior became fascinated by local carpet-making traditions and nurtured hopes of selling island exoticism in France. However, the idea, which would later be realized by entrepreneurs, proved premature at that time—investors and buyers showed no interest in the project.
Christian faced failure in his job search as well: couturier Lucien Lelong did not hire him as an administrator. Fate would later correct this and bring Dior together with the president of the Paris Haute Couture Syndicate and the head of Elle magazine. But for now, the family had no choice but to sell their Paris apartment and return to the countryside (his siblings took to growing flowers and vegetables in Provence that were in demand in Cannes and Paris).
Christian himself accepted an invitation to visit from fashion artist Jean Ozenne. Influenced by this acquaintance, Dior began participating in sketch creation. He started by copying models from fashion magazines. To his surprise, Ozenne managed to sell them along with his own works. The publication of the novice’s sketches in Le Figaro Illustre solidified his resolve: Dior decided to focus on drawing and did not seek any other work thereafter.
In 1937, designs for dresses and hats by Dior allowed him to finally pay for his housing. In 1938, the talented young man caught the attention of designer Robert Piguet, and after serving in the “food army,” Christian secured a position with Lucien Lelong. Before opening the Christian Dior fashion house in partnership with textile manufacturer Marcel Boussac, he had to endure the occupation.
Work in Crinoline
The war burst into the Parisian “chiffon atmosphere” with news of tragedy involving his younger sister, who, under the code name Caro, became a member of the French Resistance in 1941. After her arrest and torture, Catherine Dior was sent to a French prison controlled by the Germans, from which her brother Christian unsuccessfully attempted to rescue her with the help of Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling. After the war, the designer’s sister, who survived the concentration camps, returned to her farm and responded to questions about her suffering with few words: “Love life!”
Christian dedicated his famous perfume Miss Dior to his sister. Establishing his own perfume laboratory, which would later grow into the Christian Dior Perfume company, was a significant step toward building his brand. Dior’s concept was that perfumes are integral to a woman’s image, and each dress should have its corresponding fragrance. He considered perfumes “a necessary complement to a woman’s personality,” “the finishing touch for a dress,” and “the rose with which the artist Lankre signed his canvases.”
A model in a Christian Dior dress, late 1940s
“Madame in the Dior style” is similarly associated with a rose. In the silhouette that debuted on the runway in 1947, Christian Dior embodied a romantic vision of femininity that contrasted sharply with the utilitarian clothing of wartime “labor duty.” Soft silhouettes, bare shoulders, a fitted bodice without straps, and a generous amount of crinoline—this was the “new look” meant to affirm a love for life. “In place of the woman with boxer shoulders, I created a delicate image of a flower woman,” the designer wrote. “I painted rounded lines of the bust, a narrow waist, and a wide skirt that opened downwards like the petals of a bud.” Critics dubbed that first post-war collection the New Look “revolutionary,” although its creator emphasized his commitment to the classical aesthetic ideal, which he saw as the foundation of feminine elegance.
The “Brilliant Decade”
Fashion historians consider the period from 1947 to 1957 not only the peak of couturier Dior’s career but also a “brilliant decade” in the evolution of trends. The productivity of the new designer reached the pinnacle of human potential. As if making up for lost time, Christian Dior developed and produced two collections a year—spring/summer and autumn/winter—with a team of professionals. At the same time, the couturier also made a name for himself as a costume designer in theater and film: he created stage outfits for Édith Piaf and Marlene Dietrich, designed costumes for Roland Petit’s ballet productions, and developed clothing for films by directors Claude Autant-Lara and Alfred Hitchcock. The designer was nominated twice for prestigious film awards for best costume design in both black-and-white and color films: for his work in Vittorio De Sica’s film “Termini Station,” he was up for an Oscar, and for the costumes in “Arabesque,” directed by Stanley Donen, he was nominated for a BAFTA.
The couturier in his Paris office, 1947
In search of new ideas, starting in 1955, Christian Dior was the first to use impact-resistant and eye-safe plastic in the production of sunglasses, and he collaborated with glass artist Daniel Swarovski to create jewelry. Whatever the designer took on, he aimed for the best results. Understanding that haute couture is a product of collective creativity, Dior treated every seamstress who helped realize his ideas with respect.
Christian Dior boutique in Paris, 1953
The growth of his team was facilitated by Christian Dior’s organizational innovations. Together with partner Jacques Rouet, the couturier was the first in the modeling business to implement licensing agreements. In 1948, he structured the licensing of women’s clothing, accessories, perfumes, and other products of his brand, transforming a local haute couture firm into a multifaceted multinational industry. Soon, the victorious march of the Christian Dior brand across five continents was supported by eight joint-stock companies and sixteen related productions.
Dressing Angels
“In the pursuit of constant renewal, as demanded by his capricious craft, yesterday’s amateur transformed into a respected specialist in just a few years, while the field that suddenly opened for his talent simultaneously became a graveyard for his life force,” wrote the renowned French writer, journalist, and head of Elle magazine, Françoise Giroud, about Christian Dior’s fate.
Christian Dior, 1955
When Christian Dior, aged 52, suddenly died of a stroke on October 24, 1957, while undergoing treatment at a Tuscan sanatorium, his colleagues recalled how the responsibility for the well-being of the “fashion empire” had made their usually composed boss irritable. The failure of his last collection took a toll on his health, and the designer was also trying to lose weight amid that stress: the beauty enthusiast was troubled by his appearance, which was far from his aesthetic ideals. It is said that Dior suffered because he did not look attractive enough to find happiness in his personal life. He lived alone in his beautiful villa, having never had a family and not drawing attention to his relationships. It is only known for certain that “for the purpose of love and marriage,” the creator of the “new femininity” was not interested in women.
Christian Dior with his dog, 1950s
In Christian Dior’s biography, rumors swirl about the designer’s relationships with his personal driver—an Italian named Perrotino, with Pierre Cardin (according to Cardin himself), and with a male model of Algerian descent named Jacques Benita. Notably, Dior met the 25-year-old Arab beauty in 1956 and even allowed himself to appear publicly with his partner. It was said that for the sake of this partnership, the fashion guru wanted to get himself in order, but he ran out of time. A year later, Christian Dior “went to heaven to dress angels,” as the priest said in his farewell speech at his funeral.