by Sylvia Bury

Christian Dior: Couturier du Rêve

House of Dior is one of most luxurious fashion empires founded in Paris in 1946. The first Christian Dior collection was unveiled in 1947 and it’s the house’s 70th anniversary this year. A massive glamorous exhibit of 3000 sqm (around 32200 sq feet) is displayed in Paris now at Musée des Arts Décoratifs, from July 5, 2017 until January 7, 2018 - curated by Olivier Gabet and Florence Müller.

If you are visiting Paris this summer or later this year, this is the exhibition you wouldn’t want to miss!

The Opening Soirée of “Christian Dior: Couturier du Rêve”– Photo by Vogue

The Couturiers

Through this show, we will get to know more of the famed Christian Dior himself as well as the famous couturiers who give their signature styles & souls to this brand.

Original Christian Dior's early sketches for Lucien Lelong Fashion House,
where he worked as a modéliste from 1941 to 1945,
before founding La Maison de Couture Christian Dior in 1946

Christian Dior died in 1957 and the young former head assistant Yves Saint Laurent was appointed the artistic director afterward. Saint Laurent was 21 years at that time. Marc Bohan then replaced him in 1960 and then the Italian designer Gianfranco Ferré came to the fashion empire in 1989.

In 1997 the British designer John Galliano is appointed as creative designer until he got troubled with his anti-Semitic comments in 2011. Raf Simons, the Belgian designer and former creative director of Jil Sander, took over as creative director in 2012 and he left in 2015.

And finally, the current Creative Director of the brand, Maria Grazia Chiuri was appointed as the first female artistic director in 2016.

The Dior Paradise

You will see more than 300 haute couture dresses and 1000 accessories which were designed from 1947 until present days. They are beautifully presented in Colorama to illustrate the dream the couturier nurtured right from the start: to dress a woman in Christian Dior from head to toe.

Every Dior fan will be so spoiled – this is the Dior paradise! Do you love the styles of Charlize Theron, Sharon Stone, Marion Cotillard, Natalie Portman, Mélanie Laurent, Jennifer Lawrence or Rihanna? Well, guess what, they are all the current ambassadors of Dior.

Dior, Couturier and Perfumer
"Perfume is the finishing touch to any dress." - Christian Dior

Evening Dress by Dior, Photography by Richard Avedon at Cirque d'hiver Paris, August 1955
The black and beige dress worn by the model Dovima is displayed during this exhibit



Another great photography by Arthur Elgort in 1988
”The weeks which follow the first showing have a decisive influence on the collection which is yet to be born. It is then that I perform my ritual self-criticism, in which I am assisted by the photographs or drawings published in the papers which often present me with an entirely new light on my creations.” – Christian Dior

Les Jardins Dior
"After women, flowers are the most divine of creations." - Christian Dior

Indeed, a very fun way of educating myself about fashion! Christian Dior worked so hard to achieve perfection and his legacy will continue to shine in the hands of the creative directors who are not only talented but also heart-fully dedicated in all their doings.

P.S. All photos by me unless otherwise stated