1905 Christian Dior was born in the town of Grenville on the French coast and when he was 5 years old, his family moved to Paris. From 1923 to 1927 he was studying and in 1927 he did his compulsory military service. In 1928 Dior and his friend Jacques Bonjean opened an art gallery on rue de la Boetie.

In 1931 Dior's beloved mother died, his brother also died and his family became ruined financially. He visited the Soviet Union and on his return found that his partner Bonjean had also become ruined. He fell seriously ill and left Paris for a year, returning in 1935. His friend Jean Ozenne gave him a place to stay and helped him to start sketching dresses and hats. Dior started to sell his sketches some of which were purchased by milliner Agnes. He also meets Robert Piguet, who bought some sketches, and some were published in "Le Figaro".

In 1938 Robert Piguet opened a fashion house, and Dior took his first job, when he joined him as a designer. However as the war had started, he had to leave Piguet and joined the military after a year. In 1941 after military service on his return to Paris, he joined Lucien Lelong as a designer where he remained till 1946. At Lelong, Dior was happy, he could design more or less as he pleased and he could remain in the background, as he preferred to do, with his problem of shyness. One of his designs for Lelong is shown on the left from 1946.

Marcel Boussac was a cotton businessman who was looking for a designer to take over a couture operation he owned. He had to persuade Dior for a long time before he would agree to take over this salon and even then, he insisted that Boussac should start a completely new salon. Dior's favourite building at 3O ave Montaigne was available and so it was leased, decorated and embellished into Dior's version of Louis XVl salon. Dior assembled a staff from childhood friends, and colleagues from Lelong. Boussac poured millions into it and everything was made ready.

The first collection was to be presented on 12th February, 1947 and there were to be 90 designs worn by 6 girls. In 1947 Dior thought long and hard about his first collection. He tried to think what the women of Paris and indeed the rest of the world, really wanted. He came to the conclusion that women everywhere were sick and tired of rationing, of doing without, of sacrifice, of shabby clothes made with the minimum of material, of wide shoulders and dresses like uniforms. He thought to himself "I have to bring back beauty, feminine clothes, soft rounded shapes, full flowing skirts, nipped-in waists and hemlines below the knee. I will make women feel like flowers again as they did in the 30's, I will call my collection COROLLE or ring of petals."

So when his first collection was shown, it gave women all that he had planned and they fell in love with the dresses, and it was an outstanding success. Carmel Snow, a journalist, said "Oh Christian, what a wonderful New Look" and so it was named all over the world - the New Look.

The Revolution

While women all over the world embraced the dresses of the Dior "New look" there were many people against it. Models on a photographic shoot had their clothes torn off and Governments all over the world condemned the collection as wasteful, extravagant and outrageous. Some of Dior's skirts had 35 or 40 metres of material in them and this was considered awful.

The British Government requested all English women to boycott Dior. However, unknown to the Government, Dior had arranged a special showing for the Queen, Princess Margaret and other Royal ladies at the French Embassy and they loved the clothes. When Princess Margaret, the leader of British fashion, wore the New look, then the Board of Trade gave up and said "We cannot dictate to women the length of their skirts."

Still when he went to the USA, he was greeted by protesters holding up placards saying "Mr. Dior, we abhor, skirts to the floor." But they were soon wearing the New Look like everyone else. Vogue magazine did a spread on the new look in March 1948, as shown here on the right.

Christian Dior presented in all 22 collections. Every 6 months he chose a theme around which most of the designs were formed. These are detailed hereunder:

1947 Spring/Summer The Corolle or New Look collection

Most of thedresses required between 10 and 25 yards of material, some using up to 80 yards. The were as wide, as long, as sumptuous and as costly as they could possibly be made. Evening dresses were made with bouffant skirts, layers of tulle over more layers. Pleated skirts, Gibson Girl bodices were much in evidence.

Never had been seen such an extravagant use of fabric. Women said "it is impossible to exaggerate the prettiness of the New Look. We are saved, beautiful clothes are back, gone are those stern padded shoulders, in are soft rounded shoulders, small waist, wide skirts four inches below the knee, little hats, and such well-made armour inside the dress that one does not even need underclothes."

One design called "Bar" of a shantung silk jacket over a black pleated skirt, became the most well-known of Dior's New Look creations. It is shown here on the left.

1947 Autumn/Winter Figure 8 collection. Skirts became even wider and waists tinier, until the body did become somewhat similar to a figure 8.

1948 Spring/Summer Envol (Flight) collection. This showed Dior experimenting with asymmetry, which was absent from earlier designs and through gathering the skirts in sideswept or backswept folds, the designs resembled stiffened wings, thus the Flight theme. Also airborne were pointed and turned-up collars and suit jackets with tails jutting out. Daytime dresses reverted to the shorter lengths of 2 years ago.

1948 Autumn/Winter Zigzag collection. Dior explained that this theme was meant to animate the figure, demanding that the eyes follow the lines of folds boned, wired and lined to stick out as far as 2 feet from the body.

1949 Spring/Summer Trompe l'Oeil (deceive the eye) collection. This made use of separate panels to create an illusion of a fuller skirt, when the dress or coat underneath was actually narrow. Wide lapels and collars made the bust seem much wider.

1949 Autumn/Winter Milieu duSiecle (mid-Century) collection. Dior bloused the top of dresses to make them look two-piece.

1950 Spring/Summer Vertical collection. Dior lengthened the appearance of the body by using long narrow lapels, vertical tucks and pleating and showing boxy suits with pleated skirts.

195O Autumn/Winter Oblique collection. This made use of slanted lines, with wide scarves run diagonally through the belts of suits and the single breasted front closure of the jackets starting at one shoulder and continuing to the opposite hip.

195l Spring/Summer Naturelle or Oval collection. Here curves predominated with collarless, cutaway jackets used to connect faux-Empire and natural waistlines.

195l Autumn/Winter Long or Princesse collection. This did away with the intensely bifurcated waist.

1952 Spring/Summer Sinous collection. This was also called the open tulip line, where supple fabrics were crushed about the midriff and curved upwards towards the bust in soft and blurry colours.

1952 Autumn/Winter Profile or Stream-lined collection. This line had emphasis on the hips, accomplished by using stiff fabrics, manipulated by cut rather than by gathering or draping. 1953 Spring/Summer Tulip collection. Wide rounded necklines sliding off the shoulders provided the focal point for this line.

1953 Autumn/Winter Vivante (Alive) collection. Here we had shorter, narrow skirts which caused a lot of males to bellow "are women sheep".

1954 Spring/Summer Muguet (Lily of the valley) collection. This flower was Dior's favourite and he always tucked a spring of the flower into every dress as it went out to be presented. The collection based on the flower was light and spring-like, what the press called "relaxed".

1954 Autumn/Winter H-line collection. Dior introduced his elongated torso molded from hipbone to bust, which Time Magazine called the "second look". The idea was not to make the bust flatter, but higher and more youthful as well as less pointed. The waistline was now free and an era of loose-fitting shapes started to come in.

1955 Spring/Summer A-line collection. This is possibly the most famous collection after the New Look. It had narrow shoulders crowning a triangular shape.

1955 Autumn/Winter Y-line collection. Now Dior reversed himself completely and made broadened shoulders with higher waistlines and much less wide hemline.

1956 Dior designed a beautiful dress based on a Manet painting, which allowed him to use all his extravagant and colourful talents.

1956 Spring/Summer Fleche or Arrow collection. This had a Directoire feeling, with Empire waistlines.

1956 Autumn/Winter Aimant (Magnet) collection. This also featured Empire waistlines and V-necklines which also met the waistline in the middle.

1957 Spring/Summer Libre (Free) Collection. The was the harbinger of looser lines to come, with suits, jackets and skirts described as having ease and walkability.

1957 Autumn/Winter Fuseau or Spindle collection. Chemises dominated, some skirts even tapered in at the hem in an exact spindle shape. This was to be the "sack" dress of the next few years.

Other Developments:

1947 Christian Dior perfume company is set up and he christens the first perfume "Miss Dior".

Pierre Cardin joins Dior and remains there until 1950.

1948 Dior luxury ready-to-wear is set up in New York. It is the first of it's kind.

1950 Dior stockings, ties, all other accessories are marketed in the USA under licence.

1951 Dior furs opens in Paris.

1952 onwards Dior salons are opened in London, Caracas, and many other cities

1955 Yves St. Laurent becomes Dior's first and only designing assistant.

1955 Launch of Dior lipsticks and beauty products.

The Master Dies

In 1957 suddenly Christian Dior dies of a heart attack and Yves St. Laurent takes over as the firm's artistic head. The fashion world was stunned The house of Dior employed over 1200 employees, spread among 28 workrooms and it's own police force to prevent pirating. It was a million dollar firm and his death represented a very great challenge to the house of Dior and even France itself.

But there was no need to worry. The house of Dior had within it two young designers who would ensure the future of Paris as the capital of fashion as well as the future of the house of Dior. One was Yves St. Laurent, who took over and presented a fantastic first collection, the Trapeze line and the other was Marc Bohan who followed YSL and remained nearly 30 years as head of Dior and himself had a very well received first collection the SLIM line.

Yves Saint Laurent for the House of DIOR

Yves St. Laurent came to the notice of Christian Dior through his friend Michel de Brunhoff. De Brunhoff was the chief judge of a competition set by the International Woold Secretariat in 1953, which was won by Yves St. Laurent, who submitted a design of an asymmetrically draped one-sleeved cocktail dress.

When de Brunhoff went through this young man's portfolio of designs, he was very impressed, particularly since some of the designs looked very much like the new A-line collection which his friend Christian Dior was preparing for presention.

De Brunhoff told Dior that he must take this young man into his salon, and although Dior was not initially keen to do so, when he saw his designs, he agreed. Dior only had one assistant throughout his life, and this was Yves St. Laurent.

While he was at Dior, he designed many dresses which appeared in the 6-monthly collections, particuarly 'bubble dresses" which were drawn in at the hemline on a band.

Dior felt that he was not being recognized enough for his work and did have plans to give him more recognition, but he died before these plans could be put into place.

Yves St. Laurent's first collection for Dior was called the "Trapeze" line and it was a great success. The newspaper headlines read:
"St. LAURENT HAS SAVED FRANCE, THE GREAT DIOR TRADITION WILL CONTINUE"

The young designer appeared on the balcony to greet the crowd The Trapeze Line. This design was a triangular shape, it flared gently from narrow shoulders to a shorter, wider hemline just covering the knees. By autumn all of Paris was wearing this shape dress.

Yves St. Laurent presented 6 collections for Dior. His 1959 collection was not very well received because he raised the hemline to the knees, belted every waist tightly and pulled the skirt into a tight kneeband. YSL was not very concerned about the criticism as he said "indignation is a good sign, it means fashion is alive and well."

1960 The Spring/Summer collection was also very shocking, it was Beatnik, motor-cycle jackets made of alligator skin, mink coats with ribbed sweater sleeves and turtlenecks under finely cut suits. The staff at Dior felt YSL had misjudged the Dior clientele.

In 1960, Yves St. Laurent was called for military service, and on his return he found that Marc Bohan had been given charge of the House of Dior. St. Laurent was very angry about this, and sued legally against Dior since he had a contract for the position with Dior. He was granted compensation of 48,000 pounds and used this to set up his own salon.

Marc Bohan for the house of DIOR.

1960 Marc Bohan was 34 years old when he took over Dior.

1961 Dior under Marc Bohan presents the first collection the "Slim Line" which is very well received.

1967 Miss Dior ready-to-wear is opened in France, and a "Baby Dior" boutique is opened.

1968 Dior knitwear Co-ordinates is opened.

1970 Dior menswear is launched

1973 Dior ready-to-wear fur collection is launched.

1987 Musee de la Mode presents an exhibition of Dior creations to mark the 30th anniversary of his death.

In 1989, there was another change of designer at Dior. Gianfranco Ferre 1989 - 1997