Christian Dior, Essay Example

Born on January 21, 1905 in Granville, Manche, France, Christian Dior has long been considered as one of the most influential fashion designers of the 20th century, especially during World War II when Dior created what some refer to as the “hourglass silhouette” which highlighted the so-called “New Look” in clothing for women. Dior also helped to create a new type of business paradigm related to women’s fashion after World War II in the form of Dior as a worldwide brand that offered some of the finest and most expensive dresses and other items for women with discriminating taste (“Christian Dior”).

Dior’s first excursion into the world of art occurred in 1928 when he opened an art gallery in Paris called Galerie Jacques Bonjean which quickly became a favorite hangout for the elite of Paris, showing paintings by such notable artists as Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, and Georges Braque; however, due to the sudden deaths of his old brother and mother in 1931, Dior’s gallery was forced to close its doors. Left penniless, Dior eked out a living by “selling fashion sketches to haute couture houses” and later became employed as an assistant couturier or dress designer by Robert Piquet (“Christian Dior”).

Dior’s talent for fashion design soon made him the talk of Paris and after spending a number of years in various Paris fashion boutiques, Dior created his own fashion company. His first show was in early 1947 and although the fashion business in Paris was still suffering from the effects of World War II, Dior “delivered the goods” through a collection of dresses and other items “with soft shoulders, waspy waists, and full-flowing skirts intended for what he called “flower women” (“Christian Dior”).

This was the beginning of what came to be known as the “New Look” which set the design stage for the fashion industry during the late 1940’s and into the 1950’s. As a designer, Dior had grown tired of the conservative look of women’s clothing and instinctively knew that women were seeking something new and different and which would help them to express their own personal tastes and perhaps stand out in a crowd. Part of this “New Look” design “was reminiscent of the Belle Epoque ideal of long skirts, tiny waists and beautiful fabrics” (“Christian Dior”) that stylish women had worn during the latter days of the “Gilded Age” and during the heyday of the Roaring Twenties.

This “New Look” also greatly appealed to ordinary housewives who during the days of World War II while their husbands were off fighting in Europe were employed in factories building many of the weapons of war and commodities for everyday use in the home and in business. After the war, many women chose to return to their previous roles as housewives, but others, emboldened by their success in the workplace controlled by men, opted for careers in the world of business. Of course, these women had to be dressed for the part, so they turned to the fashion designs of Christian Dior, making him a  household name by the late 1940’s (“Christian Dior”).

Dior’s crowning glory as a fashion designer occurred in late 1947 when his house of fashion design, now known as Christian Dior, became the center of attention in the global fashion industry. Celebrities from all over the world placed orders for expensive Dior designs, such as American actress Rita Hayward. For the city of Paris, Dior’s success brought it back to the top of the fashion world and Dior reigned supreme until his accidental death in 1957 at the young age of fifty-two. However, his house of fashion design still exists today and continues to offer high-class fashion designs to women on a global scale.

Works Cited

“Christian Dior.” Design Museum. 2012. Web. Accessed 27 October 2012. http://designmuseum.org/design/christian-dior