Apparel

Final Presentation
Muhammad Kazim
TDT 03
STD 2007 - 1468
Christian Dior
1905 - 1957
Designer’s Profile
 Son of a wealthy Norman manufacturer of chemicals and
fertilizer.
 wanted to be an architect, but his family insisted he enter the
diplomatic service.
 He prepared for a diplomatic career at the Ecole des Sciences
Politiques but abandoned diplomacy in 1928 and became an
art dealer.
 Illness forced him to give up that business in 1934, and when
he returned to Paris a year later, it was as a fashion illustrator -
first of hats, later of dresses.
Christian Dior
Signature Style
 Usually he worked on Hot Couture.
 Mostly Loose Fit.
 “H” Line - 1954
 “A” Line - 1955
 He also worked on “Y” Line style.
 Small shoulders, a natural waistline, and a
voluminous skirt.
Bar Suit from the New Look
Collection,
1947,
ADAGP Archives,
Paris 1996,
Archives Christian Dior
Drawing of the
New Look Silhouette,
Archives Christian Dior
The new H Line,
1954,
Archives Christian Dior
Y Line dress,
Autumn/Winter,
1955-56,
Photography by:
Regina Reland,
Munchner Stadtmuseum
Archives Christian Dior
How he Started???

 CD - the logo of Christian Dior House is more than a trademark, it

is a legend. For more than 50 years, the name “Christian Dior”
spells seduction, creativity and femininity in luxury goods.
 He trained for the French diplomatic service, but in the financial
crisis of the 1930s he began illustrating fashions for a weekly
periodical.

In 1942 he joined the house of the Parisian designer Lucien Lelong.
How he Started???

 In 1947 he introduced his revolutionary "New Look," which featured

small shoulders, a natural waistline, and a voluminous skirt, a
drastic change from the World War II look of padded shoulders and
short skirts.
 In the 1950s the "sack," or "H" line, became the characteristic
silhouette of his designs.
 He was instrumental in commercializing Parisian fashion on a
worldwide scale.
His First Collection
 In 1946, when World War II cloth rationing was lifted, Dior opened
his own salon.
 In the spring of 1947 the success of his first collection, called the
"New Look," propelled him to the top of the French fashion industry.
 His idealized, ultra feminine silhouette featured tiny waists; long, full
skirts; padded busts; and rounded shoulders.

Everything was made exquisitely of the best materials available.
 The New Look changed the shape of women's clothing and lifted the
French fashion industry out of the doldrums.
Haute couture collection,
Autumn/Winter,
1955-56,
Photography by:
Henry Clarke,
ADAGP Archives,
Paris 1996,
Archives Christian Dior
Haute couture collection,
Autumn/Winter,
1953,
Archives Christian Dior
 What Other
Lines He Has ?
 Currently, Dior operates 60 boutiques
worldwide, 15 of them in Japan. Ready-to-wear
collections are sold exclusively in the Dior
boutiques.
 Other retailers only carry licensed Dior products
like eye-wear, lingerie, ties, baby clothing,
perfumes, and other accessories.
 According to marketing surveys, to date Dior is
the most widely recognized brand in top
fashion.
 Dior is a member of the Chambre Syndicale de
la Haute Couture et du Pret-a-Porter.
Christian Dior Handbags
 Only the world's finest design
fashion house could design
such exquisite handbags.
Gorgeous Dior bags features
alluring details – famous “CD”
set made in Louis XVI style.
Dior handbags are the very
essence of beauty & style.
Thus it’s not surprise that the
logo is recognizable and
handbags is popular almost
everywhere.
Christian Dior Sunglasses
 With classy sunglasses from
Christian Dior you can
accessorize your face in ultra-
modern style. CD sunglasses
collection is traditionally very
fashion-forward, sleekly styled
and ideal for today's
customers. Over the years, the
Dior brand has been
modernized, and the success
of its collections has also rides
on rectangular frame fronts in
flat metal and combination
frames.
Christian Dior Wrist
 Christian Dior watches are
traditionally made by the best
Swiss watchmakers. Each CD
watch is original, exclusive and
timeless object, the reflection
of a personality. It crowns an
outfit, imparting indescribable
touch of French elegance that
is so appreciated around the
world.
 What
Brought Him
Fame ?
 His 1st collection “New Look” brought him
Fame.
 From his first collection (launched 1947),
trendsetters, celebrities and film stars like the
Duchess of Windsor, Greta Garbo, Marlene
Dietrich and their followers - everyone who
desires modern design and top quality stick to
Dior’s designs for good. Until now, everything
that bears the Dior name expresses the
sophisticated style, inventiveness, and delight
resides to the legendary founder.
 Since 1987, the House of Dior belongs to the
world's leading manufacturer of luxury goods
Achievement
 The New Look changed the shape of
women's clothing and lifted the French
fashion industry out of the doldrums.

 For this feat a grateful French government

awarded him the Legion of Honor.
Summarize Biography
 The most influential fashion designer of the
late 1940s and 1950s, Christian Dior (1905 to
1957) dominated fashion after world war II
with the hour glass silhouette of his
voluptuous new look he also defines a new
business model in the post-war fashion
industry by establishing Dior as a global
Brand across a wide range of products.
 1905 Born in Granville on the Gulf of St Malo on the
Normandy coast, as the second of five children a wealthy
fertilizer manufacturer.
 1910 The family move to Paris and Dior enrolls at the
Lycée Gerson
 1923 To please his father, Dior studies at the Ecole des
Sciences Politiques (Sciences Po’) to prepare to join the
diplomatic corps.
 1928 Opens a modern art gallery, Galerie Jacques
Bonjean, with a friend and financial backing from his
father.
 1931 The Dior family business folds in the depression.
Forced to close the gallery, Dior scrapes a living by selling
his art collection and fashion sketches to couturiers.
 1938 The couturier Robert Piguet employs Dior as a
design assistant at his new couture house.
 1939 When World War II begins, Dior is called up into the
French Army, but is demobilized after a year when France
surrenders and joins his family on a farm in Province.
 1941 Returns to Paris to work as a design assistant to
Lucien Lelong.
 1946 After World War II ends, Dior persuades the
industrialist Marcel Boussac to back him in the opening of
his own couture house to be managed by the civil servant
Jacques Rouët.
 1947 On 12 February Dior presents his debut couture
collection, which is an instant success dubbed the ‘New
Look’ for its voluptuous silhouette and luxurious fabrics.
Launch of the first Dior perfume, Miss Dior.
 1948 Dior and Rouët open a ready-to-wear boutique in
New York and, over the next few years, launch new
perfumes and negotiate the licensing rights for Christian
Dior hosiery, ties and other products.
 1950 Designs a dress for Marlene Dietrich in Alfred
Hitchcock’s Stage Fright and, the following year, a suit for
Dietrich in No Highway in the Sky.
 1954 After years of variations on the New Look, Dior
unveils his new direction, the French Bean Line or Flat
Look.
 1955 Yves Mathieu-Saint-Laurent joins Dior as a design
assistant. The Grande Boutique opens on Avenue
Montaigne and Dior launches a cosmetics range.
 1956 Designs over a dozen dresses for Ava Gardner in
The Little Hut.
 1957 Christian Dior dies of a heart attack after choking on
a fishbone while on a rest cure at a spa in Montecatini,
Italy. Dior’s funeral in Paris is attended by more than
2,500 people. Yves Saint Laurent is named as Dior’s
successor and unveils his first collection in January 1958.
 Upon Christian Dior's death, Yves Saint
Laurent, Dior's assistant of four years, took
over as head designer.
 The following quote is from 'Dior by Dior':
"The maintenance of the tradition of
fashion is in the nature of an act of
faith. In a century which attempts to
tear the heart out of every mystery,
fashion guards its secret well, and is
the best possible proof that there is still
magic abroad."