Dior: 60 years old and in great form!
This is the story of a young unknown man - Christian Dior - who, in 1947, as the world was trying to recover from World War II, revolutionized the world of Haute Couture. Sixty years after the worldwide recognition of the "New Look", the Dior House is still booming and is celebrating its 60th birthday with style, in Dior's childhood villa of Granville, which has now become a museum.
Colours and unity
"Colours are marvellous and make women more seductive but they must be used with precaution" wrote Christian Dior in 1954, in the Little Dictionary of Fashion. "Precaution" is indeed the right word. If Christian Dior, at the dawn of his career, was able to prudently master colours, he other hallmark was his ability to take risks. The "New Look", by strangling the waists and redefining the hips, shook up conventions and re-invented fashion. Mythical styles went on to succeed one another. But a certain unity also prevails such as the symbolic colours of the brand. The pink and grey of the family villa in Granville, but also the red, lilac, black, blue, green and gold. A palette that is both short and dense, which reflects Dior's career.
A key exhibition
The birthday exhibition, "Dior, 60 years in colours", is essential as it perfectly sums up the soul and the creativity of the Dior House. Through all 80 pieces, who are classified according to the nine symbolic colours, Granville offers a journey through Christian Dior's mythology, from Yves Saint Laurent to Marc Bohan, from Gianfranco Ferré to John Galliano. Respecting a certain continuity or on the contrary, breaking the rules, all those designers have greatly managed, without any guidelines, to embody and perpetrate Dior's soul.
"Colours are marvellous and make women more seductive but they must be used with precaution" wrote Christian Dior in 1954, in the Little Dictionary of Fashion. "Precaution" is indeed the right word. If Christian Dior, at the dawn of his career, was able to prudently master colours, he other hallmark was his ability to take risks. The "New Look", by strangling the waists and redefining the hips, shook up conventions and re-invented fashion. Mythical styles went on to succeed one another. But a certain unity also prevails such as the symbolic colours of the brand. The pink and grey of the family villa in Granville, but also the red, lilac, black, blue, green and gold. A palette that is both short and dense, which reflects Dior's career.
A key exhibition
The birthday exhibition, "Dior, 60 years in colours", is essential as it perfectly sums up the soul and the creativity of the Dior House. Through all 80 pieces, who are classified according to the nine symbolic colours, Granville offers a journey through Christian Dior's mythology, from Yves Saint Laurent to Marc Bohan, from Gianfranco Ferré to John Galliano. Respecting a certain continuity or on the contrary, breaking the rules, all those designers have greatly managed, without any guidelines, to embody and perpetrate Dior's soul.
Novembre 2007
