70 Years Of DIOR Fashions Paris Exhibition

After the austerity of the war years, it presented a cinched waist, generous skirts and soft shoulders to create the flower women who embodied the very image of Parisian luxury. The “New Look” returned Paris to its status as fashion capital of the world and established the Dior name as synonymous with haute couture.

The year 2017 marks the 70th anniversary of the creation of the Dior label. It was in 1947 that Christian Dior presented his first fashion show, marking the birth of a new feminine silhouette.

The Bar suit, from the spring/summer 1947 collection, modelled by Renee in 1955.
Photograph: Willy Maywald / ADAGP Paris/Viscopy
70 years of the house of Dior and begins simply with a classic gown from 1947. Wasp-waisted with a full, pleated skirt, in so-called “satan red”, it stands out like a traffic light against the gallery’s black lacquered walls. This is Dior’s “New Look” – the silhouette that brought the designer instant fame and ushered in a new, post-war ideal of hourglass femininity.

Christian Dior at House of Dior’s headquarters on 30 Avenue Montaigne in Paris.
Photograph: Willy Maywald / ADAGP, Paris/Viscopy
Since Dior’s death in 1957, the fashion house has been headed by some of the biggest names in the fashion world, including Yves Saint Laurent, John Galliano and Maria-Grazia Chiuri.

The Eugénie dress, from the autumn/winter 1948 haute couture collection.
Photograph: Willy Maywald / ADAGP, Paris/Viscopy

The Coquette dress from the autumn/winter 1948 haute couture collection, modelled by Wenda Rogerson (Parkinson).
Photograph: Clifford Coffin/Trunk Archive

A sketch by Christian Dior for the autumn/winter 1949 haute couture collection.
Photograph: Christian Dior

Christian Dior with fashion model Victoire wearing the Zaire dress, from the 1954 autumn/winter haute couture collection.
Photograph: 2013 Mark Shaw / mptvimages.c

Models pose in the new Christian Dior collection in the salon at House of Dior’s headquarters at 30 Avenue Montaigne, Paris in 1957. The photo featured in Life magazine.
Photograph: Loomis Dean/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images

The garments, which were specially photographed for this publication, are accompanied by texts explaining their context, sketches, photographs of fashion shows and work by some of the greatest fashion photographers such as Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton, William Klein, Helmut Newton, Patrick Demarchelier, Paolo Roversi, Peter Lindbergh and Nick Knight, among others. The texts tackle the themes that have marked the history of Dior: the notion of the line and architecture of a garment, the relationship between history and art (Versailles and the Petit Trianon, the Second Empire, Impressionism, the Belle Époque, the Russian Ballet, Picasso, Dalí, Pollock, etc.)