The House of Dior
to the golden age of branding
from the golden age of couture
official website/ www.dior.com
the "Corolle" collection/
Due to Marcel Boussac's six million francs investment in the House of Dior, its first collection was greatly anticipated by the fashion industry.
photos/ of the book "Inpiration Dior", Abrams 2011
"Livre de Fabrication Collection Printemps - Ete 1947 1ere Collection"
"Instructions Book of the Spring - Summer Collection 1947 1st Collection"
Inside, sketches and notes of the revolutionary COROLLE collection: AMOUR, AVRIL, ACACIAS, ALMA, APEAINE, AUSEUIL, BALI, BAR, BONEUR, BLEUETTE, BAGATELLE, BALARIA, BALLET, BRARRILS, CAFE DE PARIS, CYQNE, CLUB, JOLETTE, FIGARO, FLEURETTE, FEMINA, FIOLELITE.
"By the summer collections of 1946, Christian Dior was a much talked- about personality. [...] The smell of fame was strong"
Bettina Ballard, 1940s chief fashion editor of American Vogue/
"La Ligne Corolle" (The Flower Line), Christian Dior's legendary first collection was first presented on the 12th of February 1947.
photo/ "Bar" suit, 1947 ADAGP Archives, Paris 1996, Archives Christian Dior
"MAGNIFIQUE!"
"BRAVO!"
"RAVISSANT!"
"It is quite a revolution, dear Christian. Your dresses have such a new look." Harper’s Bazaar editor, Carmel Snow, wrote to Dior. The world press picked up on the watchword “New Look.”
"By nature I am drawn to the past"
Christian Dior/
The "New Look",
was inspired by 19th century Victorian and Edwardian eras
was focusing on the hourglass figure and gave women a curvaceous form
was elegant, glamourous, sophisticated, charming, sculptural, nostalgic, seductive, feminine, voluminous and full of mystery
used large amounts of firm, synthetic, rayon, nylon, composite, expensive, glamourous, luxurious fabrics
was executed in the highest level, with finest tailoring and luxurious embroidering
"I created the flower women with gentle shoulders and generous bosoms, with tiny waists like stems and skirts belling out like petals."
Christian Dior/
Replacing the boxy silhouette of the war years, the "New Look" was a Romantic outburst. Dior perfectly captured the mood of the post war period and himself described the collection as "Youth, hope, and the future."
The "New Look" had rounded shoulders, shapely emphasis of the bust, small waist, exaggerated hips, a full, flaring skirt that fell about 30 cm from the floor, sheer stockings and high heeled pointy shoes. It was constructed of petticoats, mini-waisted corsets, hip padding, bodice, crinoline, seams and pleats.
"Without foundation, there can be no fashions."
Christian Dior/
"A new chance in life, a new love affair." Janey Ironside, of the Royal College of Art in London, on the "New Look"/
"Some of us stayed and tried on the extraordinary new clothes, slightly drunk with the excitement of it all, whirling around the knife-pleated skirts." Bettina Ballard, 1940s chief fashion editor of American Vogue/
dress/ wool, Spring Summer 1947, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
illustration/ René Gruau, 1947
photo/ 1940s fashion, keepyourpeckerup.files.wordpress.com
illustration/ René Gruau, 1947
photos/ Emile Savitry and Clifford Coffin, Vogue, April 1947
"Temperamentally I am a reactionary. We were just emerging from a poverty-stricken, parsimonious era, obsessed with ration books and clothes coupons: it was only natural that my creations should take a form of reaction against this."
Christian Dior/
“At the precise gray moment in time when the fashion business was hinting at the decline of French couture, suddenly one of its own, namely Dior, stirred up a most reviving fuss.” Vogue 1957/
"For women, who had been forced to dress in a simple and austere manner during the Occupatin, this luxurious use of material was confirmation of the fact that the war was really over." Taschen, ...
"A new style is likely to be adopted when it fits with the zeitgeist of the era" Blumer, 1969.
"Few could have foreseen that a single show heavily focused on one unfamiliar silhouette would have such an impact around the world."
Watson 2006/
illustration/ Dagmar Freuchen Gale, Vogue cover, April 1947
"Respecting tradition and being audacious must always go hand in hand"
Christian Dior/
Criticism on the "New Look":
Feminists argued it was an attempt to return women to an oppressed decorative role.
People were shocked by the extravagant use of ornament and fabric. "Again the capitalists are squandering resources while poor children are hungry", wrote the French newspaper "L' Humanite".
The British Vogue was urged not to report on Dior's collections in case readers were tempted to defy austerity regulations.
In America, there was "The Little Below the Knee Club".
'The the brain-child of a former fashion model named Bobbie Woodward of Dallas, Texas. Organized in 1947, the news of this women's club quickly spread from sea to shining sea, taking root in 48 states and a few burgs in Canada where it was erroneously believed that together they could beat back the popularity of Christian Dior's "New Look" and guarantee that dresses and skirt hems would remain a length measuring a little below the knee.'
source/ oldmagazinearticles.com
Some argued that these were ruthlessly demanding clothes and women had to suffer in pursuit of old fashioned glamour.
Opposition to the "New Look" didn’t have much impact and was ceased soon after the wartime shortages ended.
Christian Dior's first collection was newsworthy.It was the "New Look" that stimulated the Parisian haute couture revival, rapidly became a postwar cultural symbol and determined fashion throughout the 1950s.
"But after building—and flying—airplanes and driving ambulances, would women ever again subject themselves to such frivolously feminine, archaic constraints? Yes, they would."
vogue.com
"The much-publicized cause of the rise and fall of bosoms, the shrink and stretch of hips, the sight and flight of knees. Often creating while floating in his green marble bathtub. " TIME magazine on Dior/
"Women have instinctively understood that I dream of making them not only more beautiful, but also happier." Christian Dior/
photo/ Christian Dior, Spring Summer 1947, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
"Within months of his debut, Dior's Avenue Montaigne house had become the beating heart of the fashion industry"
Sinclair 2012
"[The 'New Look'] was successful beyond my wildest dreams", Christian Dior wrote in his autobiography/
photo slideshow/ Paris Spring Summer collections, fashion editorial, Serge Balkin, Vogue, April 1947