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Mon Dieu, Dior!

By Elsbeth van Paridon: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, December 17, 2012

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Dior's flower women a la 2010 (Sping/Summer collection 2011). Copyright@Intothefashion.com

Dior, the brand

Dior had a knack for doing business, a natural instinct for the commercial side of things and on December 16, 1946, he founded the "House of Dior." Dior also came out with his own perfume and, in addition, opened up a ready-to-wear boutique on New York's Fifth Avenue. Moving into the mid-1950s, Dior created a far less curvaceous –but nonetheless complimentary, celebratory and smooth look for his Mesdemoiselles.

The public, admittedly only those few very well off, could not seem to get enough, and they devoured Dior. Like Justin Bieber's dumbfounded staring at the world's number one models; Fifth Avenue, Paris and Hollywood worshipped Dior's handmade creations. For example, timeless beauty Rita Hayworth wore Dior Couture to the premiere of her best-known movie, the classic "Gilda."

Yet being a realist, Dior never swerved too far from his staple designs, which befitted his (very wealthy and often middle-aged) clients so well, as he chose to play it a little more "safe" instead of experimenting. Even his collections consisted of adaptations of his familiar style and the classics; no Victorian madness-oh, the contradiction- for Dior, though later chief designers for the House of Dior dropped the slight starchiness of his classic design and made up for that, perhaps, 'lack' of experimentation.

After Dior's sudden death in 1957, the circumstances of which are still shrouded in mystery, Yves Saint Laurent, now a household name, designed his first collection for the House of Dior at the tender age of 21. Just like Rihanna nailed her Victoria runway walk last week, Saint Laurent nailed that collection and took Dior design to the next level, bearing lighter and softer fabrics that literally carried a more air-like feel to them (like wearing a bra instead of a diamond-encrusted bustier or tightly laced corset). In the 1960s, this designer of "contrast and duality," as Voguepidia (yes, Voguepidia) describes him, went on to create the audacious Beat collection, which landed him in trouble with his Dior bosses who were apparently not overly keen on that arty rough Paris street wear-inspired look.