Christian Dior
Christian Dior (1905-1957)
Christian Dior was born in 1905 in the small French coastal town of Granville, the son of a wealthy fertilizer manufacturer. His family had high hopes that the young Christian would become a diplomat. However, Dior was artistic and when he left school in 1928 he received money from his father to open a small art gallery. His gallery sold art by the likes of Pablo Picasso but after a financial blow his father lost control of his company and the young Dior was forced to close his gallery.
From the 1930s to the early 1940s Dior worked with the designer Robert Piguet, until he was enlisted into the army. When World War II war began in 1939, Dior served as an officer for the year until France’s surrender. He joined his father and a sister on a farm in Provence until he was offered a job in Paris by the couturier Lucien Lelong, who was lobbying the Germans to revive the couture trade. Dior spent the rest of the War dressing the wives of Nazi officers and French collaborators. Dior’s sister Catherine served in the French resistance. After her capture by the Gestapo, Catherine was sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp. She survived the ordeal and was freed in 1945. The first Dior fragrance was dedicated to her.
France emerged from World War II in ruins. Half a million buildings were destroyed. Clothes, coal and food were in short supply. Yet there were ample opportunities for new business ventures and fashion was no exception. Dior was invited by a childhood friend from Granville to revive Philippe et Gaston, a struggling clothing company owned by Marcel Boussac, the “King of Cotton” with an empire of racing stables, newspapers and textile mills.
Dior founded his haute couture empire in 1946 at 30 Avenue Montaigne Paris, backed by wealthy French businessman Marcel Boussac. The business met Dior and listened to his theory that the public was ready for a new style after the War. Dior’s description of a luxurious new look with a
Christian Dior was born in 1905 in the small French coastal town of Granville, the son of a wealthy fertilizer manufacturer. His family had high hopes that the young Christian would become a diplomat. However, Dior was artistic and when he left school in 1928 he received money from his father to open a small art gallery. His gallery sold art by the likes of Pablo Picasso but after a financial blow his father lost control of his company and the young Dior was forced to close his gallery.
From the 1930s to the early 1940s Dior worked with the designer Robert Piguet, until he was enlisted into the army. When World War II war began in 1939, Dior served as an officer for the year until France’s surrender. He joined his father and a sister on a farm in Provence until he was offered a job in Paris by the couturier Lucien Lelong, who was lobbying the Germans to revive the couture trade. Dior spent the rest of the War dressing the wives of Nazi officers and French collaborators. Dior’s sister Catherine served in the French resistance. After her capture by the Gestapo, Catherine was sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp. She survived the ordeal and was freed in 1945. The first Dior fragrance was dedicated to her.
France emerged from World War II in ruins. Half a million buildings were destroyed. Clothes, coal and food were in short supply. Yet there were ample opportunities for new business ventures and fashion was no exception. Dior was invited by a childhood friend from Granville to revive Philippe et Gaston, a struggling clothing company owned by Marcel Boussac, the “King of Cotton” with an empire of racing stables, newspapers and textile mills.
Dior founded his haute couture empire in 1946 at 30 Avenue Montaigne Paris, backed by wealthy French businessman Marcel Boussac. The business met Dior and listened to his theory that the public was ready for a new style after the War. Dior’s description of a luxurious new look with a
References: Pochna, M-F. (1996). Christian Dior: The Man Who Made the World Look New p.5, Arcade Publishing. ISBN 1-55970-340-7. Jayne Sheridan, Fashion, Media, Promotion: The New Black Magic (John Wiley & Sons, 2010), page 44. Gitta Sereny, The Healing Wound: Experiences and Reflections, Germany, 1938–2001 (W.W. Norton & Company, 2002), pp. 15—16. Grant, L. (22 September 2007). "Light at the end of the tunnel", Life & Style (London). Retrieved 23 September 2007.