Christian Dior SA

Christian Dior SA (more commonly known as Dior) is a French clothing retailer, under control of the LVMH group. The company was founded by fashion designer Christian Dior.Christian Dior SA itself controls 42% of LVMH assets, which holds other fashion brands such as Kenzo, Givenchy and Louis Vuitton. The holding company's operating unit, Christian Dior Couture, designs and makes some of the world's most coveted haute couture, as well as luxury ready-to-wear fashion, menswear and accessories. Christian Dior operates about 160 boutiques worldwide with plans to open more in the coming years. Its headquarters are located in Paris, rue François 1er. In 1998 it purchased Gerbe Paris, a French hosiery maker that had gone bankrupt. It is a major part of the business empire of Bernard Arnault, who is one of the richest people in the world.

History

The New Look

The New Look was the name given to the women's clothing fashions introduced by Parisian fashion designer Christian Dior in the spring of 1947. This collection influenced fashion and other designers for over ten years. The signature shape – characterized by a below-mid-calf length, full-skirt, large bust, and small waist – was hugely popular after a short initial period of rejection, largely in reaction to the short, skimpy dresses required by wartime textile rationing. The actual phrase the "New Look" was coined by the powerful editor-in-chief of Harpers Bazaar, Carmel Snow. Dior's debut collection, Corolle line, was first presented on February 12, 1947.

Dior also presented a tight-skirted silhouette. The hem length for this design was also just below mid-calf, while the neckline was often very low for evening wear. Both the full-skirted shape and the more fitted straight skirts were extremely popular with teenage girls during the 1950s and were especially suited for petite figures. The silhouette was also widely considered flattering for older women. At first, there was some backlash to Dior's genius form because of the amount of fabrics used in a single dress or suit, but as soon as the War Time Shortages came to an end, opposition ceased. The New Look revolutionized women's dress and reestablished Paris as the center of the fashion world after World War II.

In the "New Look," large busts were re-emphasized, after being restrained since 1912, and the square, masculine shoulder pads of the late 1930s and wartime 1940s fell from popularity, not to re-appear for thirty years. The New Look was both womanly and sophisticated, as can be seen in the era's films.

Fine dressmaking made a comeback during this period, among women who could afford it, since the construction of the desired shapes required skilled hands. This custom work quickly disappeared as cheap manufacturing and one-size-fits-all patterns became popular in the 1950's and custom clothing design became less cost-effective and less available, except among women who could afford couture design.

Dior without Christian Dior

Fourteen days after the burial of Dior, Jacques Rouët called a press conference to announce the new structure of the house of Christian Dior. “The studio will be run by madame Zehnacker couture workshops by Madame Marguerite Carré,” he announced. “Mitza Bricard will continue to exercise her good taste over the collections. All the sketches will be the responsibility of Yves Mathieu-Saint-Laurent.”

The 1st Christian Dior collection after Dior’s death was a sensation. Designed in just nine weeks by the 21 year-old Yves Saint Laurent, as he was called after dropping the ‘Mathieu’, the clothes were as meticulously made and perfectly proportioned as Dior’s in the same exquisite fabrics, but their young designer made them softer, lighter and easier to wear. Saint Laurent was hailed as a national hero. Emboldened by his success, his designs became more daring, culminating in the 1960 Beat Look inspired by the existentialists in the Saint-Germain des Près cafés and jazz clubs. Marcel Boussac was furious, and, in spring 1960, when Saint Laurent was called up to join the French army, the Dior management raised no objection.

Saint Laurent was conscripted in the army and, after demobilisation, opened his own couture house. He was replaced at Dior by Marc Bohan, who instilled his conservative style on the collections until 1988 when Italian Gianfranco Ferre took over as head designer until 1995.

Dior today

In 1996, John Galliano, was appointed chief designer of Christian Dior by the company’s owner, the LVMH luxury goods group.

Management

*Chairman, CEO: Bernard Arnault
*Haute couture and Ready-to-Wear: John Galliano
*Men's wear (Dior Homme): Kris van Assche
*Fine jewellery: Victoire de Castellane

External links

* [http://www.dior.com Official Site]
* [http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/92/92686.html Yahoo! - Christian Dior SA Company Profile]
* [http://www.fashionwindows.com/fashion_designers/dior/hcf071.asp Dior haute couture 60th anniversary runway show review]
* [http://www.fragrantica.com/designers/Dior.html Christian Dior Fragrances]
* cite web |publisher= Victoria and Albert Museum
url= http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1486_couture/explore.php
title= Interactive timeline of couture houses and couturier biographies