Christian Dior: How, in a parade, the creator revolutionized fashion with his new look
His ultra-feminine style, recognizable by his corollas skirts and his marked sizes immediately hit the bull's eye.On February 12, 1947 at 10:30 am, when he presented his first collection in the salons of his house installed at 30 avenue Montaigne, Christian Dior does not know it yet but he is writing a new page in the history of the style.Unknown to the general public, he is not from the specialized press, which followed his debut with Robert Piguet and Lucien Lelong, where he previously officiated.
However, it is an innovative and personal look that reveals that day.The corolla and eight lines, which make up this first collection of ninety silhouettes are emblematic of elegance and femininity forgotten during the war.Far from utilitarianism, Christian Dior intends to put fantasy back in fashion.The hems are mid-length, the skirts and the dresses are full and the size is curved, as a tribute to the female curves.And although fabric restrictions are still in force, that does not prevent the designer from proposing creations with dazzling proportions.Resistance part of this first presentation, the bar tailor wins all the votes.Composed of a pleated wool skirt and a Silk Silk Silk jacket with subtly padded hips, it is the symbol of this renewal.""
However, it was complicated to design.Frustrated with not finding a model that meets his requirements, he himself refers a stockman with a big hammer blows in order to obtain the desired proportions."" Nous sortions d’une époque de guerre, d’uniformes, de femmes-soldats aux carrures de boxeurs », écrit-il dans son autobiographie,"" Christian Dior et moi », parue en 1956."" Je dessinai des femmes-fleurs, épaules douces, bustes épanouis, tailles fines comme lianes et jupes larges comme corolles.But we know that such fragile appearances are only obtained at the cost of a rigorous construction.To satisfy my concern for architecture and precise form, a technique quite different from those in use was necessary. Je voulais que mes robes fussent"" construites », moulées sur les courbes du corps féminin dont elles styliseraient le galbe."Reworked since all the artistic directors who have succeeded the founding designer, this silhouette is inseparable from the time and the Dior style.
Unrivaled success, this first parade catapults the house on the front of the international fashion stage.The claw having been the last of the Paris circuit to present her collection, she mainly did it in front of the press, the American buyers having left for New York without delay this show.But in the room, a journalist will summarize what everyone thinks and give, without knowing it, his name for this new trend. Carmel Snow, rédactrice en chef du magazine"" Harper’s Bazaar », tient à féliciter le couturier."" Dear Christian, your dresses have such a new look », lui adresse-t-elle.The expression will be a date and will define this current which, in just two hours, has just added the wardrobes of women from around the world.
But the delight is not unanimous.In Paris, some criticize Christian Dior the ostentation shown by his creations.No less than forty-five meters of fabrics are sometimes necessary for the making of elegant pleated to which it uses, a wealth which goes badly in the traumatized France of the post-war period where the population still uses the rationing tickets.So much so that a model is one day attacked in the street during a shoot, his skirt torn by a unhappy crowd.
The somewhat outdated character of his style also gives birth to criticism.If Coco Chanel and Paul Poiret before him tried to release the woman from the corsets and other fanfreluches to which the female sex has been subscribed for centuries, Christian Dior has imagined complete outfits including guys and corsets.A backtrack for some, who also see his hem hets, accused of hiding the legs of women,. Réunies dans un collectif baptisé"" Little Below the Knee Club », certaines Américaines protestent contre le New Look et accueillent le couturier sous les huées lors de son arrivée à New York en septembre 1947. Mais c’est pour se voir remettre le prestigieux"" Oscar de la mode » des magasins Neiman Marcus que le designer fait avant tout le déplacement.In a few months, he conquered the whole world and the department store was not mistaken.On September 9, he was rewarded in Dallas, alongside an Italian booter who also leaves his fingerprint in fashion, Salvatore Ferragamo.
When Christian Dior died prematurely from a heart attack during a spa treatment in Montecatini on October 24, 1957, he did more for fashion in a decade than other designers throughout their careers.The Dior style is omnipresent, from Hollywood films to good society and royalty which tear the creations of the house while the least wealthy and the most resourceful make their own versions of the most popular rooms.A craze still as lively today, under the artistic direction of Maria Grazia Chiuri, appointed to this position in 2016.
