Dior dancers biography
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The formidable women behind the legendary Christian Dior
Features correspondent
What did the ‘tyrant of hemlines’ really think of the ladies he dressed? How the designer’s formidable, elegant entourage helped shape the Dior look, by Lindsay Baker.
“Dior doesn’t dress women, he upholsters them,” Coco Chanel once said of her fellow designer Christian Dior. And of his debut collection, she remarked spikily: “Look how ridiculous these women are, wearing clothes by a man who doesn’t know women, never had one, and dreams of being one.”
This was in 1947, when Dior unveiled his first ever couture collection to the public, with its bell-shaped, petal-like long skirts in taffeta and tulle, lifted busts, softly sloped shoulders and cinched-in waists. The style became known as the New Look, as it was so markedly different from the preceding pared-back, more androgynous styles – of which Chanel was a key purveyor. Dior’s look was romantic, lavish, elaborate, feminine, and harked back to an earlier Belle Epoque silhouette. It was a huge success.
“The buzz was huge,” says Oriole Cullen, curator of a new exhibition at the V&A, Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams, an extended version of an exhibition originally shown at the Musée des Arts
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Christian Dior’s SS23 ready to wear fashion show opened with a dramatic and hypnotic interpretive dance performed by Dutch brother and sister duo Imre and Marne van Opstal wearing Dior costumes that mimicked nudity. The French fashion house known for feminine silhouettes and stunning detail displayed an ominous tribute to the femine spirit. Maria Grazia Chiuri, creative director of Dior found her muse in Dior’s archive using a map of Paris and the biography of a French noblewoman from the 1530s Century who helped pioneer the innovation of high heeled shoes and corsets, Chiuri also pulled vintage prints from Dior’s library. These prints were then reinterpreted for this season’s collection. The fabrics were brought to life by the noted french weavers Tassinari & Chatel by Leièvre Paris, a French textile legend whose history includes creating fabric for Marie Antoinette.
The collection is indeed fit for a queen. Referencing a historic era with raffia skirts, the flower and bird motifs were used to create coats and dramatically draped dresses styled with fishnet socks and ultra-platform heels for an edgy finish. Corsets were shown with wide legged pants offsetting the traditional with a street style feel. Wide sculptural skirts shortened reference another time w
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The Pioneering Someone Dancers Who Inspired Designer for Spring/Summer 2019
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