History

Christian Dior is born in Granville, Normandy, on January 21, to Alexandre Louis Maurice Dior and Marie-Madeleine Dior (née Martin), the second of five children. The family is comfortably off thanks to its fertilizer and chemicals manufacturing business founded in 1832.

The Dior family moves to the 16th arrondissement of Paris, keeping the Les Rhumbs villa for holidays and family gatherings.

Christian Dior opens an art gallery with his friend Jacques Bonjean at 34 rue La Boétie. “Our ambition,” he said in 1956, “was to have shows there centred on the masters we admired most: Picasso, Braque, Matisse, and Dufy, and the painters we knew personally and already held in high esteem: Christian Bérard, Salvador Dalí, Max Jacob, the Berman brothers…” In 1932, he enters into a partnership with Pierre Colle to open another gallery at 29 rue Cambacérès. In 1933 they hold an exhibition dedicated to Surrealism.

Christian Dior starts to sell his drawings to milliners and couture houses including Jean Patou, Schiaparelli, Maggy Rouff, Worth, Balenciaga, Molyneux, and Paquin. He also works as an illustrator for Le Figaro newspaper and Jardin des Modes magazine.

His sister Catherine is denounced as a résistante (member of the French Resistance) and deported to Ravensbrück, from which she is liberated in 1945.

Christian Dior and the industrialist Marcel Boussac join forces to create the Christian Dior couture house. On December 16, the couture house opens at 30 Avenue Montaigne, with three ateliers and a staff of 85 people.

On March 4, Christian Dior Parfums is founded and Dior’s childhood friend, Serge Heftler-Louiche, is appointed director. The first perfume, Miss Dior, is launched in December.

Christian Dior buys the Moulin du Coudret, an old mill at Milly-la-Forêt near Paris, where he can relax between collections.

Christian Dior is awarded the French Legion of Honor for his contribution to the textile industry and fashion craftsmanship.

Christian Dior buys the Château de La Colle Noire in Montauroux, in the South of France.

Christian Dior (C.D.) Models Ltd. is established in London.

The Christian Dior-Delman company is created, producing custom-made shoes designed by Roger Vivier. Later, in 1958, the brand is replaced by 'Christian Dior by Roger Vivier'.

Opening of the boutique on the corner of avenue Montaigne and rue François 1er, decorated by Victor Grandpierre. Parfums Christian Dior launches its first lipstick boxed sets in 22 different shades.

Launch of Diorissimo perfume, with lily of the valley as its principal note.

Christian Dior dies of a heart attack in Montecatini, Italy, during the night of October 24. In accordance with his wishes, Yves Saint Laurent, his first assistant at the studio since 1955, is appointed Creative Director of the fashion house.

In 1955, aged only 19, Yves Saint Laurent was named assistant to Christian Dior. Following the sudden passing of the founding couturier in October 1957, he became the Creative Director of the House. His emblematic first collection, Trapèze, freed the body and instilled a spirit of emancipation, encapsulating the youth of the 1960s. His bold designs were inspired, among other things, by the Beatniks, for the Dior Fall-Winter 1960 collection. An avant-garde vision of the fashion world.

A designer for Jean Patou, then assistant designer to Robert Piguet, Marc Bohan joined the House of Dior in 1958 as Creative Director of the London subsidiary. In 1960, he became Creative Director of the Parisian couture house, for which he created the Slim Look, reflecting contemporary ideas of femininity. Fascinated by the world of art, and particularly the abstract expressionism of Jackson Pollock, Marc Bohan designed modern silhouettes, cut with an elegant simplicity, for Dior over almost 30 years – a unique style embraced by many Hollywood stars.

On 8 November, Princess Grace of Monaco opens the first Baby Dior boutique at 28, avenue Montaigne.

Marc Bohan creates the Christian Dior Monsieur line. It is later directed by Christian Benais, then Gérard Penneroux, before Dominique Morlotti takes the reins in 1983.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the House of Christian Dior, a large retrospective exhibition is organized at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, inaugurated by President François Mitterrand.

Driven by a postmodern vision of fashion, the Italian designer celebrated Dior codes and gave haute couture a new lease on life through the architectural elegance of his suits and the opulence of grand evening dresses. A passionate art lover like Christian Dior, he was inspired by the palette of Paul Cézanne for his Fall-Winter 1995-1996 Haute Couture collection, coinciding with the painter’s retrospective at the Grand Palais.

A British designer with a rock ’n’ roll spirit, known for his sense of extravagance, John Galliano reinvented the Dior haute couture tradition in 1996 by fusing it with his dreamlike imagination. His hybrid vision combined eclectic sources of inspiration, highlighting the cultural and artisanal riches of the world through the virtuosic skills of the Dior ateliers. Enhanced by spectacular scenography, each of his shows was conceived as a voyage into the extraordinary.

In 1995, during an official visit to Paris, Bernadette Chirac presents Diana, Princess of Wales, with a brand-new Dior bag, renamed, in her honor, the Lady Dior. For the 50th anniversary of the House of Dior, a large exhibition is organized at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Princess Diana wears the first Dior dress created by John Galliano to the launch party in December 1996.

Dior Joaillerie is founded, with Victoire de Castellane as Creative Director.

François Demachy becomes Perfumer-Creator of the House of Dior.

The Belgian designer, a graduate of the prestigious Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, reworked the timeless codes of Dior with his refined, minimalist signature. Throughout his collections, he reinterpreted Christian Dior’s flower-woman with her gracious curves, transforming her into an architectural silhouette, or masterfully revisiting the New Look as a pantsuit, reflecting his resolutely contemporary spirit.

Since her arrival at Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri has promoted the idea of universal female empowerment and an essential, steadfast sisterhood. The messages of her collections, conceived as manifestos, celebrate the values carried forward by the feminist (r)evolutions, transcending injunctions and stereotypes. A bold vision, which, over the seasons and numerous creative dialogues, reinvents the timeless icons and codes of Dior. Through her many collaborations with artists and craftspeople all over the world, Maria Grazia Chiuri constantly weaves precious links between knowledge and cultures, making each Dior show a collective and socially engaged work of art.