Christian Dior#The New Look

File:Granville - Maison et Musée de Dior.jpg, France]]

Dior was born in Granville, a seaside town on the coast of Normandy, France. He was the second of five children born to Maurice Dior, a wealthy fertilizer manufacturer (the family firm was Dior Frères), and his wife, formerly Madeleine Martin. He had four siblings: Raymond (father of Françoise Dior), Jacqueline, Bernard, and Catherine Dior.Pochna, M-F. (1996). Christian Dior: The Man Who Made the World Look New p. 5, Arcade Publishing. {{ISBN|1-55970-340-7}}. When Christian was about five years old, the family moved to Paris.{{cite web|url=https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/christian-dior|title=Biography: Christian Dior|publisher=Vogue|first=Bibby|last=Sowray|date=5 April 2012|access-date=28 February 2024}}

Dior's family had hoped he would become a diplomat, but Dior was interested in art.{{cite book|last=Pochna|first=Marie-France|title=Christian Dior: The Man Who Made the World Look New|year=1996|publisher=Arcade Pub.|location=New York|isbn=1-55970-340-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/christiandiorman00poch/page/207 207]|url=https://archive.org/details/christiandiorman00poch|url-access=registration|edition=1st English language}} To make money, he sold his fashion sketches outside his house for about 10 cents each (US${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|.10|1928}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}). In 1928, he left school and received money from his father to finance a small art gallery, where he and a friend sold art by the likes of Pablo Picasso. Alongside managing his art gallery, Dior cultivated friendships with influential artists, including Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Jean Cocteau, and Alberto Giacometti. Immersed in this creative environment, Dior drew inspiration from their work, which shaped his later approach in fashion design.{{Cite web |title=Christian Dior - The Story of the "Emperor of Fashion" |url=https://dsfantiquejewelry.com/blogs/journal/christian-dior-the-story-of-the-emperor-of-fashion |access-date=2024-11-02 |website=DSF Antique Jewelry |language=en}} The gallery closed three years later, following the deaths of Dior's mother and brother, as well as financial trouble during the Great Depression that resulted in his father losing control of the family business.{{Cite magazine |last=Cooper |first=Leah Faye |date=1 July 2022 |title=How Christian Dior Pioneered 75 Years of Feminist Fashion |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2022/07/christian-dior-feminist-fashion |magazine=Vanity Fair}} Dior had no choice but to find another source of income.{{Cite web |title=Christian Dior (1905-1957) |url=https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/news-analysis/christian-dior-1905-1957/ |access-date=2023-05-14 |website=The Business of Fashion |date=23 November 2015 |language=en}}

In search of work, Dior again created and sold fashion sketches. Those sketches were discovered by fashion designer Robert Piguet. From 1937, Dior was employed by Piguet, who gave him the opportunity to design for three collections.{{cite book|last=Marly|first=Diana de|title=Christian Dior|date=1990|publisher=B.T. Batsford|location=London|isbn=978-0-7134-6453-5|page=12|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-OvxAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Cafe+Anglais%22|quote=Dior designed three collections while at Piguet's, and the most famous dress he created then was the Cafe Anglais}}{{cite book|last=Pochna|first=Marie-France|title=Christian Dior: The Man Who Made the World Look New |date=1996|publisher=Arcade Pub.|location=New York|isbn=978-1-55970-340-6|pages=[https://archive.org/details/christiandiorman00poch/page/62 62], 72, 74, 80, 102|url=https://archive.org/details/christiandiorman00poch|url-access=registration|quote=Robert Piguet.|edition=1st English language |translator-last1=Savill |translator-first1=Joanna}} Dior later said that "Robert Piguet taught me the virtues of simplicity through which true elegance must come."{{cite book| last=Grainger |first=Nathalie |title=Quintessentially Perfume|date=2010|publisher=Quintessentially Pub. Ltd. |location=London |isbn=978-0-9558270-6-8 |page=125|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e_46gh0ddVIC&pg=PA125}}{{cite book|last=Picken|first=Mary Brooks |title=Dressmakers of France: The Who, How, and why of the French Couture |date=1956 |publisher=Harper |page=105 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vJHOAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Robert+Piguet+taught+me+the+virtues+of+simplicity+through+which+true+elegance+must+come%22|author2=Dora Loues Miller}} One of his original designs for Piguet, a day dress with a short, full skirt that was in his collection called "Cafe Anglais", was particularly well received. Whilst working for Piguet, Dior worked alongside Pierre Balmain, and was succeeded as house designer by Marc Bohan – who would, in 1960, become head of design for Christian Dior Paris. Dior left Piguet when he was called up for military service.

In 1942, when Dior left the army, he joined the fashion house of Lucien Lelong, where he and Balmain were the primary designers. For the duration of World War II, Dior, as an employee of Lelong, designed dresses for the wives of Nazi officers and French collaborators, as did other fashion houses that remained in business during the war, including Jean Patou, Jeanne Lanvin, and Nina Ricci.Jayne Sheridan, Fashion, Media, Promotion: The New Black Magic (John Wiley & Sons, 2010), p. 44.Yuniya Kawamura, The Japanese Revolution in Fashion (Berg Publishers, 2004), page 46. As quoted in the book, Lelong was a leading force in keeping the French fashion industry from being forcibly moved to Berlin, arguing, "You can impose anything upon us by force, but Paris couture cannot be uprooted, neither as a whole or in any part. Either it stays in Paris, or it does not exist. It is not within the power of any nation to steal fashion creativity, for not only does it function quite spontaneously, also it is the product of a tradition maintained by a large body of skilled men and women in a variety of crafts and trades." Kawamura explains that the survival of the French fashion industry was critical to the survival of France, stating, "Export of a single dress by a leading couturier enabled the country to buy ten tons of coal, and a liter of perfume was worth two tons of petrol" (page 46). His sister, Catherine (1917–2008), a member of the French Resistance, was captured by the Gestapo and sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp, where she was incarcerated until her liberation in May 1945.{{cite book |first=Gitta |last=Sereny |title=The Healing Wound: Experiences and Reflections, Germany, 1938–2001 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |location=New York |year=2002 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/healingwoundexpe00sere/page/15 15–16] |isbn=0-393-04428-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/healingwoundexpe00sere/page/15 }} In 1947, Dior named his debut fragrance Miss Dior in tribute to her.{{Cite magazine |last=Ranscombe |first=Sian |date=7 November 2017 |title=An exclusive interview with the nose behind the new Miss Dior perfume |url=https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/beauty/fragrance/a13330467/miss-dior-perfumer-francois-demachy-interview/ |magazine=Harper's Bazaar |access-date=18 February 2024}}{{Cite web |last=Pithers |first=Ellie |date=12 November 2013 |title=Who was the original Miss Dior? |url=http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/beauty/news-features/TMG10443967/Who-was-the-original-Miss-Dior.html |work=The Telegraph |access-date=18 February 2024}}

Dior was known for being superstitious. He often consulted his astrologer before making decisions, and his collections frequently featured talismanic symbols. He also carried a cluster of lucky charms with him, believing they brought him good fortune.{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/womens-style/superstition-clairvoyants-influenced-fashion-designers-christian|title=How superstition and clairvoyants influenced fashion designers from Christian Dior to Coco Chanel|website=The Telegraph|date=11 September 2021 |access-date=2023-09-28 |last1=Picardie |first1=Justine }} At a pivotal moment when industrialist Marcel Boussac offered six million francs to establish Maison Christian Dior, Dior accepted only after receiving approval from two separate clairvoyants.{{Cite book |last=Sinclair |first=Charlotte |url=https://archive.org/details/vogueonchristian0000sinc/mode/2up?q=Boussac |title=Vogue on Christian Dior |date=2012 |publisher=London : Quadrille |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-1-84949-112-9}}

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In 1946, Marcel Boussac, a successful entrepreneur, invited Dior to design for Philippe et Gaston, a Paris fashion house launched in 1925.{{cite web |last1=Palmer |first1=Alexandra |title=Dior's Scandalous New Look |url=https://www.rom.on.ca/en/collections-research/books-magazine/rom-magazine/spring-2010/article/diors-scandalous-new-look|website=ROM Magazine|publisher=Royal Ontario Museum|access-date=6 November 2015|date=Spring 2010}} Dior refused, wishing to make a fresh start under his own name rather than reviving an old brand.{{cite book |last1=Pochna |first1=Marie-France |translator-last1=Savill |translator-first1=Joanna |title=Christian Dior: The Man Who Made the World Look New |date=1996 |publisher=Arcade Pub. |location=New York |isbn=978-1-55970-340-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/christiandiorman00poch/page/90 90]–92 |edition=1st English language|url=https://archive.org/details/christiandiorman00poch|url-access=registration }} In 1946, with Boussac's backing, Dior founded his fashion house, ensuring exclusive control over the company and securing a third of all profits in addition to his salary. The name of the line of his first collection, presented on 12 February 1947,{{Cite web|url=http://www.dior-finance.com/en/historique.asp|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081107025618/http://www.dior-finance.com/en/historique.asp|url-status=dead|title=- Christian Dior Finance|archivedate=7 November 2008|website=www.dior-finance.com}} was Corolle (literally the botanical term corolla or circlet of flower petals in English). Dior's debut collection included a launch of 90 garments displayed in outfits. The phrase New Look was coined for it by Carmel Snow, the editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar.

Dior's designs were more voluptuous than the boxy, fabric-conserving shapes of the recent World War II styles that had been influenced by the wartime rationing of fabric.{{Cite news |last=Grant |first=L. |title=Light at the end of the tunnel |periodical=The Guardian, Life & Style |date=22 September 2007 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2007/sep/22/fashion.features |location=London |access-date=11 November 2013}} Despite being called "New," the Corolle line was clearly drawn from styles of the Edwardian era,{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=A Revolutionary Saint Laurent Showing |journal=The New York Times |date=29 July 1976 |page=65 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/29/archives/a-revolutionary-saint-laurent-showing.html |access-date=16 March 2022 |quote=[T]he collection Christian Dior showed in 1947 ... was Edwardian}}{{cite book |last1=Mulvagh |first1=Jane |title=Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion |date=1988 |publisher=Viking, the Penguin Group |location=London, England |isbn=0-670-80172-0 |pages=180–181 |chapter=1946-1956 |quote=Dior's New Look was still relying on old-fashioned underpinnings like boned corsetry ... Fashion ... reviv[ed] the mock-Edwardian style first presented in the late thirties. ... [Dior's] tighter waists, longer, fuller skirts and more pronounced hips were in fact the maximization of an old style}}{{cite journal |title=Christian Dior Cuts Skirt Length in Move Disrupting Couture World |journal=The New York Times |date=1948-02-10 |page=28 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/02/10/archives/christian-dior-cuts-skirt-length-in-move-disrupting-couture-world.html |quote=As in 1900, horizontal strips of tucked lawn, lace insertion and Valenciennes ruching alternate from décolletage to hem...}} refining and crystallizing trends in skirt shape and waistline that had been burgeoning in high fashion since the late 1930s.{{cite book |last1=Mulvagh |first1=Jane |title=Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion |date=1988 |publisher=Viking, the Penguin Group |location=London, England |isbn=0-670-80172-0 |page=194 |chapter=1947 |quote=[T]he trend towards longer skirts, smaller waists and feminine lines had begun in the late thirties and was seen in America in the early forties; hence Dior was not the originator of this mode, but its rejuvenator and popularist.}}{{cite book |last1=Snow |first1=Carmel |title=1948 Britannica Book of the Year: A Record of the March of Events of 1947 |date=1948 |publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. |page=321 |chapter=Fashion and Dress |quote=...[Christian Dior's] designs...crystallized and dramatized a trend that had started before World War II, but was interrupted by the exigencies of wartime conservation.}}{{cite journal |last1=Cunningham |first1=Bill |title=Fashionating Rhythm |journal=Details |date=1 March 1988 |volume=VI |issue=8 |page=121 |publisher=Details Publishing Corp. |location=New York, NY |issn=0740-4921 |quote=Each of the major fashion changes that mark a season is the result of a series of creative designers adding essential elements to the overall picture. The eventual credit for the genius is often given to the designer who articulated the look with commercial success, such as Dior achieved with his 1947 New Look, although it had been seen in small prototypes at Balenciaga in the early Forties and at other Paris houses just before the war.}} The house employed Pierre Cardin as head of its tailoring atelier for the first three years of its existence,{{cite journal |title=Cardin First Struck Gold with Suit Made for Dior |journal=The New York Times |date=1958-08-27 |page=22 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/08/07/archives/cardin-first-struck-gold-with-suit-made-for-dior.html |access-date=2023-04-05 |quote=Cocteau and Berard...introduced...Cardin to [Dior,] who was...preparing his first fashion collection...Cardin designed, cut, and made a coat and a suit. He showed them to Dior, who...enrolled him on his team....Cardin spent three...years at Dior...}} and it was Cardin who designed one of the most popular of the Corolle ensembles, the 1947 Bar suit.{{cite journal |title=Cardin First Struck Gold with Suit Made for Dior |journal=The New York Times |date=1958-08-27 |page=22 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/08/07/archives/cardin-first-struck-gold-with-suit-made-for-dior.html |access-date=2023-04-05 |quote=...Cardin...designed one of the most successful models...a suit called 'Bar,' which buyers the world over bought.}}

The "New Look" revolutionized women's dress, reestablished Paris as the centre of the fashion world after World War II,{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=How Paris Kept Position in Fashion |journal=The New York Times |date=1981-04-14 |page=B19 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/14/style/how-paris-kept-position-in-fashion.html |access-date=2022-04-04 |quote=Dior's bombshell brought manufacturers as well as store buyers rushing back to the City of Light as they sought to interpret his inspirational designs for their own clients....Throughout the 1950s, Paris was acclaimed as the source of fashion, and Dior's success helped stave off the development of other independent style centers for at least a decade.}}{{Cite web|url=https://fashionsizzle.com/2014/01/12/christian-dior/|title=Christian Dior – Fashionsizzle|website=fashionsizzle.com|date=12 January 2014|language=en-US|access-date=2 November 2017}} and made Dior a virtual arbiter of fashion for much of the following decade.{{cite book |last1=Howell |first1=Georgina |title=In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue |date=1978 |publisher=Penguin Books Ltd. |location=Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England |isbn=0-14-004955-X |page=204 |chapter=1948-1959 |quote=Women obeyed Paris because of Christian Dior.}} Dior's collection was an inspiration to many women post-war and helped them regain their love for fashion. Dior believed that fashion was more than clothing; it was an art form and a continuation of French cultural heritage. He described maintaining the tradition of fashion as 'an act of faith,' a way to preserve the mystery and beauty that fashion brought to society.{{Cite book |last=Sinclair |first=Charlotte |url=https://archive.org/details/vogueonchristian0000sinc/mode/2up |title=Vogue on Christian Dior |date=2012 |publisher=London : Quadrille |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-1-84949-112-9}} Each season featured a newly titled Dior "line," in the manner of 1947's "Corolle" line, that would be trumpeted in the fashion press:{{cite journal |last1=Radieva |first1=Krasimira |title=An Investigation of the Silhouettes of Christian Dior |journal=Artte |date=2019-03-01 |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=169–173 |doi=10.15547/artte.2019.03.002 |doi-broken-date=12 November 2024 |s2cid=213675775 |url=https://www.academia.edu/81000093 |access-date=2023-05-05 |issn=1314-8796|doi-access=free }} the Envol{{cite book |last1=Howell |first1=Georgina |title=In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue |date=1978 |publisher=Penguin Books Ltd. |location=Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England |isbn=0-14-004955-X |page=221 |chapter=1948-49 |quote=...Dior produces his 'envol' line, superimposing an angle of fullness upon an arrow-thin sheath.}}{{cite book |last1=Mulvagh |first1=Jane |title=Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion |date=1988 |publisher=Viking, the Penguin Group |location=London, England |isbn=0-670-80172-0 |pages=200 |chapter=1948 |quote=Dior introduced the 'Envol' line, which featured jutting wings and accentuated back interest.}} and Cyclone/Zigzag lines{{cite book |last1=Mulvagh |first1=Jane |title=Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion |date=1988 |publisher=Viking, the Penguin Group |location=London, England |isbn=0-670-80172-0 |pages=202 |chapter=1948 |quote=Dior's autumn collection was entitled 'Zig Zag'. It emphasized an asymmetrical line...}} in 1948; the Trompe l'Oeil{{cite book |last1=Mulvagh |first1=Jane |title=Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion |date=1988 |publisher=Viking, the Penguin Group |location=London, England |isbn=0-670-80172-0 |pages=205 |chapter=1949 |quote=Dior showed...an ample silhouette, with soft bulk in the skirt or torso, neatly belted in. This was an extension of his New Look. He used trompe-l'oeil devices...}}{{cite journal |last1=Radieva |first1=Krasimira |title=An Investigation of the Silhouettes of Christian Dior |journal=Artte |date=2019-03-02 |volume=7 |issue=3 |page=170 |doi=10.15547/artte.2019.03.002 |doi-broken-date=12 November 2024 |url=https://www.academia.edu/81000093 |access-date=2023-05-23 |issn=1314-8796 |quote=In his Trompe l'oeil collection, Dior used all sorts of tricks to make busts look wider...[H]e put flying panels or pleats on nearly every skirt; when standing still, the figure looked slender and lean, but with movement the panels fluttered and flew.|doi-access=free }} and Mid-Century lines{{cite journal |last1=Radieva |first1=Krasimira |title=An Investigation of the Silhouettes of Christian Dior |journal=Artte |date=2019-03-02 |volume=7 |issue=3 |page=170 |doi=10.15547/artte.2019.03.002 |doi-broken-date=12 November 2024 |url=https://www.academia.edu/81000093 |access-date=2023-05-23 |issn=1314-8796 |quote=Dior's Autumn Collection was called the Mid-Century look. The new Dior dresses and suits were softly bloused on top with tiny belted waists and pencil skirts...|doi-access=free }} in 1949; the Vertical{{cite journal |last1=Radieva |first1=Krasimira |title=An Investigation of the Silhouettes of Christian Dior |journal=Artte |date=2019-03-02 |volume=7 |issue=3 |page=170 |doi=10.15547/artte.2019.03.002 |doi-broken-date=12 November 2024 |url=https://www.academia.edu/81000093 |access-date=2023-05-23 |issn=1314-8796 |quote=The first new look of the fifties was Dior's Vertical Line....Dior was aiming at...the look of a straight line between shoulder and hip...|doi-access=free }}{{cite book |last1=Mulvagh |first1=Jane |title=Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion |date=1988 |publisher=Viking, the Penguin Group |location=London, England |isbn=0-670-80172-0 |pages=209 |chapter=1950 |quote=The designers of the most uncompromising sheaths were Dior, with his 'Vertical' line...}} and Oblique lines{{cite journal |last1=Radieva |first1=Krasimira |title=An Investigation of the Silhouettes of Christian Dior |journal=Artte |date=2019-03-02 |volume=7 |issue=3 |page=171 |doi=10.15547/artte.2019.03.002 |doi-broken-date=12 November 2024 |url=https://www.academia.edu/81000093 |access-date=2023-05-23 |issn=1314-8796 |quote=Dior stayed with geometry for his...Oblique line. There were...asymmetrical necklines and bodices...[T]ucks and seams spiraled around the body.|doi-access=free }}{{cite book |last1=Mulvagh |first1=Jane |title=Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion |date=1988 |publisher=Viking, the Penguin Group |location=London, England |isbn=0-670-80172-0 |pages=209 |chapter=1950 |quote=Dior uses a stole cut in one with the jacket to achieve the oblique line on his grey flannel suit.}} in 1950; the Oval{{cite journal |title=Dior: Fashion's Ten-Year Wonder Leaves Couture Leadership a Question |journal=The New York Times |date=1957-10-25 |page=41 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1957/10/25/archives/cardin-laroche-givenchy-called-likely-successors-dior-fashions.html?searchResultPosition=3 |quote=1951: He revives his oval line, emphasizing it chiefly in the cut of sleeves and shoulders. He favored spencer jackets, an invention prophetic of future lines.}}{{cite journal |last1=Radieva |first1=Krasimira |title=An Investigation of the Silhouettes of Christian Dior |journal=Artte |date=2019-03-02 |volume=7 |issue=3 |page=171 |doi=10.15547/artte.2019.03.002 |doi-broken-date=12 November 2024 |url=https://www.academia.edu/81000093 |access-date=2023-05-23 |issn=1314-8796 |quote=The Oval line[:]...[e]very edge was rounded: suits hugged the body...; shoulders...smoothed into sleeves...; and hips and breasts were gently molded. Sleeves...curved at the top...Dior...used a simple mandarin neck-band – and jackets were rounded off at the front....He introduced a new, snug bolero jacket that...stopped just below the bust.|doi-access=free }} and Longue/Princesse{{cite book |last1=Howell |first1=Georgina |title=In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue |date=1978 |publisher=Penguin Books Ltd. |location=Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England |isbn=0-14-004955-X |page=227 |chapter=1951-52 |quote=This is Dior's first collection without stiffened and padded underlinings, and he launches his immediately successful 'princess' line with dresses fitted through the midriff, waist unmarked.}}{{cite journal |last1=Radieva |first1=Krasimira |title=An Investigation of the Silhouettes of Christian Dior |journal=Artte |date=2019-03-02 |volume=7 |issue=3 |page=171 |doi=10.15547/artte.2019.03.002 |doi-broken-date=12 November 2024 |url=https://www.academia.edu/81000093 |access-date=2023-05-23 |issn=1314-8796 |quote=...[T]he Long line was soon christened the Princess line...[F]or the Princess line, the waist...stayed where it was...[T]he illusion of a high waist was given by...putting short bolero jackets...over dresses, or by placing a seam under the bust..., or by attaching a half-belt high up across the back...Skirts were fractionally longer to emphasize this long line...|doi-access=free }} lines in 1951; the Sinueuse{{cite journal |last1=Radieva |first1=Krasimira |title=An Investigation of the Silhouettes of Christian Dior |journal=Artte |date=2019-03-02 |volume=7 |issue=3 |page=171 |doi=10.15547/artte.2019.03.002 |doi-broken-date=12 November 2024 |url=https://www.academia.edu/81000093 |access-date=2023-05-23 |issn=1314-8796 |quote=...the Sinuous line: soft, fluid clothes that moved with the body...The sweater look consisted of...a soft cardigan jacket, a simple little top...and gentle skirt.|doi-access=free }} and Profilėe{{cite journal |last1=Radieva |first1=Krasimira |title=An Investigation of the Silhouettes of Christian Dior |journal=Artte |date=2019-03-02 |volume=7 |issue=3 |page=171 |doi=10.15547/artte.2019.03.002 |doi-broken-date=12 November 2024 |url=https://www.academia.edu/81000093 |access-date=2023-05-23 |issn=1314-8796 |quote=...[T]he Profile line...was sharper and more defined...[T]he clothes were simpler...and cut to outline the body in a dramatic way....[H]e invented a...skirt...constructed to jut out over the hips.|doi-access=free }}{{cite book |last1=Mulvagh |first1=Jane |title=Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion |date=1988 |publisher=Viking, the Penguin Group |location=London, England |isbn=0-670-80172-0 |pages=219 |chapter=1952 |quote=Dior's jutting 'Profile'-line dress..., which stands out as two points of a square at the front and two at the back.}} lines in 1952; the Tulipe{{cite book |last1=Howell |first1=Georgina |title=In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue |date=1978 |publisher=Penguin Books Ltd. |location=Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England |isbn=0-14-004955-X |page=230 |chapter=1953 |quote=Dior reintroduces padding over the bust with his 'tulip' line...}}{{cite book |last1=Mulvagh |first1=Jane |title=Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion |date=1988 |publisher=Viking, the Penguin Group |location=London, England |isbn=0-670-80172-0 |pages=223 |chapter=1953 |quote=Dior showed his 'Tulip' line, the long body rounding out over the bust and shoulders in petal-shaped curves.}} and Vivante/Cupola lines{{cite journal |last1=Radieva |first1=Krasimira |title=An Investigation of the Silhouettes of Christian Dior |journal=Artte |date=2019-03-02 |volume=7 |issue=3 |page=172 |doi=10.15547/artte.2019.03.002 |doi-broken-date=12 November 2024 |url=https://www.academia.edu/81000093 |access-date=2023-05-23 |issn=1314-8796 |quote=Dior called his Autumn Collection the Cupola, or Dome, line; there were wide, barrel-shaped coats and jackets with exaggeratedly round shoulders,...dresses with full busts and bell skirts, and a...rounded 'bustle' back for evening dresses...Princess dresses...with waists less marked...He raised the hemline by two inches...|doi-access=free }}{{cite book |last1=Mulvagh |first1=Jane |title=Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion |date=1988 |publisher=Viking, the Penguin Group |location=London, England |isbn=0-670-80172-0 |pages=224 |chapter=1953 |quote=The headline news from Paris this autumn was Dior's skirt – some 16 inches from the ground....Dior offset the rise in hemline by raising the bustline to create an unbroken line,...giving an illusion of length.}} in 1953; the Muguet/Lily of the Valley line{{cite journal |last1=Radieva |first1=Krasimira |title=An Investigation of the Silhouettes of Christian Dior |journal=Artte |date=2019-03-02 |volume=7 |issue=3 |page=172 |doi=10.15547/artte.2019.03.002 |doi-broken-date=12 November 2024 |url=https://www.academia.edu/81000093 |access-date=2023-05-23 |issn=1314-8796 |quote=[Dior] called [his spring collection] his Lily of the Valley line. There were relaxed...suits with pleated skirts and short, sailor-collared jackets....The waist was less emphasized than ever before.|doi-access=free }} and H-Line{{cite book |last1=Mulvagh |first1=Jane |title=Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion |date=1988 |publisher=Viking, the Penguin Group |location=London, England |isbn=0-670-80172-0 |pages=228 |chapter=1954 |quote=Dior's 'H' line suggested 'the tapering figure of a young girl' by increasing the distance between the hips and the bust....His dresses featured...bodices...which flattened the bust...}} in 1954; the A-Line{{cite book |last1=Howell |first1=Georgina |title=In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue |date=1978 |publisher=Penguin Books Ltd. |location=Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England |isbn=0-14-004955-X |page=239 |chapter=1955 |quote=Dior produces his new A line, a triangle widened from a small head and shoulders to a full pleated or stiffened hem.}}{{cite book |last1=Mulvagh |first1=Jane |title=Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion |date=1988 |publisher=Viking, the Penguin Group |location=London, England |isbn=0-670-80172-0 |pages=230 |chapter=1955 |quote=Dior evolved last year's 'H' line into the 'A' line, which was commercially successful and widely adopted. The 'A' line...flared out into wide triangles from narrow shoulders.}}{{cite journal |last1=Radieva |first1=Krasimira |title=An Investigation of the Silhouettes of Christian Dior |journal=Artte |date=2019-03-02 |volume=7 |issue=3 |page=172 |doi=10.15547/artte.2019.03.002 |doi-broken-date=12 November 2024 |url=https://www.academia.edu/81000093 |access-date=2023-05-23 |issn=1314-8796 |quote=The A line and its predecessor, the H line, were revolutionary. They marked a complete U-turn in fashion away from the nipped-in waists and full skirts of the New Look to a sleeker, almost waistless shape...|doi-access=free }} and Y-Line{{cite journal |last1=Radieva |first1=Krasimira |title=An Investigation of the Silhouettes of Christian Dior |journal=Artte |date=2019-03-02 |volume=7 |issue=3 |page=172 |doi=10.15547/artte.2019.03.002 |doi-broken-date=12 November 2024 |url=https://www.academia.edu/81000093 |access-date=2023-05-23 |issn=1314-8796 |quote=The Y line...was defined as a slender body with a top-heavy look....The Y could be upside-down too: long tunics with deep slits up the sides. These were...waistless and easy...|doi-access=free }} in 1955; the Flèche/Arrow/F-Line{{cite journal |last1=Radieva |first1=Krasimira |title=An Investigation of the Silhouettes of Christian Dior |journal=Artte |date=2019-03-02 |volume=7 |issue=3 |page=172 |doi=10.15547/artte.2019.03.002 |doi-broken-date=12 November 2024 |url=https://www.academia.edu/81000093 |access-date=2023-05-23 |issn=1314-8796 |quote=...[T]he Arrow line...showed two new versions of the high waist that he had loved since his Princesse line....[T]here were...jackets...chopped off above the waist to show the belt of the dress underneath, and...loose cut jackets caught in with a belt or sash well above the waist and worn over slim skirts.|doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Inglis-Jones |first1=Kay |title=Fashion Trends Abroad, Paris: Christian Dior's 'F' Line |journal=The New York Times |date=1956-02-03 |page=F20 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/02/03/archives/fashion-trends-abroad-paris-christian-diors-f-line.html?searchResultPosition=1 |quote=...[W]ith his new 'Ligne Fleche' (Arrow Line)[,...t]he letter 'F,' standing for 'fleche' and 'femme,' takes the place of last season's 'Y' line. The new line is straight and high-waisted, with arrow points giving new cut, new draping and interest to sleeves, sleeve mountings and high bust detail. The big news is that princess lines have disappeared, replaced by the two-piece dress...}} and Aimant/Magnet line{{cite journal |last1=Radieva |first1=Krasimira |title=An Investigation of the Silhouettes of Christian Dior |journal=Artte |date=2019-03-02 |volume=7 |issue=3 |page=173 |doi=10.15547/artte.2019.03.002 |doi-broken-date=12 November 2024 |url=https://www.academia.edu/81000093 |access-date=2023-05-23 |issn=1314-8796 |quote=...[Dior] produced daytime suits with skirts as long as those of an Edwardian lady. The new line was called Aimant, or Loving...|doi-access=free }} in 1956; and the Libre/Free{{cite journal |last1=Radieva |first1=Krasimira |title=An Investigation of the Silhouettes of Christian Dior |journal=Artte |date=2019-03-02 |volume=7 |issue=3 |page=173 |doi=10.15547/artte.2019.03.002 |doi-broken-date=12 November 2024 |url=https://www.academia.edu/81000093 |access-date=2023-05-23 |issn=1314-8796 |quote=...Dior based much of his Libre line on two classic items of clothing[:]...the vareuse, or fishermen's smock,...and...the khaki bush jacket|doi-access=free }} and Fuseau/Spindle lines{{cite book |last1=Howell |first1=Georgina |title=In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue |date=1978 |publisher=Penguin Books Ltd. |location=Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England |isbn=0-14-004955-X |page=242 |chapter=1956-57 |quote=...Dior's last collection leaves a legacy, the waistless shift or chemise dress that narrows toward the hem,...called the 'spindle'...}}{{cite book |last1=Blackwell |first1=Betsy Talbot |title=The American Peoples Encyclopedia Yearbook: Events and Personalities of 1957 |date=1958 |publisher=Spencer Press, Inc. |location=Chicago, IL, USA |page=316 |chapter=Fashion |quote=...Paris, led by Christian Dior, ushered in the shift....A dress that bypassed the waist completely, it was actually the climax to a long-evolving 'relaxed look' that was everywhere gaining favor.}} in 1957, followed by successor Yves Saint Laurent's Trapeze line in 1958.{{cite book |last1=Howell |first1=Georgina |title=In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue |date=1978 |publisher=Penguin Books Ltd. |location=Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England |isbn=0-14-004955-X |page=246 |chapter=1958}}{{cite book |last1=Mulvagh |first1=Jane |title=Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion |date=1988 |publisher=Viking, The Penguin Group |location=London, England |isbn=0-670-80172-0 |pages=251–252 |chapter=1958}}

Dior's last collections, such as the “Libre” and “Fuseau” lines, marked a shift toward a more fluid, relaxed silhouette, distancing from the structured designs of earlier years. These changes reflected Dior's response to the era's evolving social dynamics, foreshadowing styles that would become iconic in the late 1950s and 1960s.{{Cite book |last=Martin |first=Richard (Richard Harrison) |url=https://archive.org/details/christiandior0000mart_q3r5/mode/2up |title=Christian Dior |date=1996 |publisher=New York : Metropolitan Museum of Art : Distributed by H.N. Abrams |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-87099-822-5}}

In 1955, 19-year-old Yves Saint Laurent became Dior's design assistant. Dior told Saint Laurent's mother in 1957 that he had chosen Saint Laurent to succeed him at Dior. She indicated later that she was confused by the remark, as Dior was only 52 at the time, but he died later that year.{{Cite web|title=Christian Dior|url=https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/christian-dior|access-date=4 June 2020|website=British Vogue |first=Bibby |last=Sowray |date=5 April 2012|language=en-GB}}

Dior died of a third heart attack while on vacation in Montecatini, Italy, on 24 October 1957 in the late afternoon while playing a game of cards.{{Cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,867898-1,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012203435/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,867898-1,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 October 2007 |title=Died. Christian Dior, 52 |magazine=Time |access-date=7 March 2008 |date=4 November 1957}}{{Cite web |title=History of Christian Dior S.A. |url=https://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/christian-dior-s-a-history/ |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=FundingUniverse |language=en}} He was survived by Jacques Benita, a North African singer three decades his junior, the last of a number of discreet male lovers.{{cite web|url=http://www.hautecouturenews.com/2015/story/christian-dior/|first=Lucy|last=Zotoff|title=Revolutions in fashion: Christian Dior|publisher=Haute Couture News|date=25 December 2015|access-date=14 October 2022|archive-date=14 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221014192144/http://www.hautecouturenews.com/2015/story/christian-dior/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/18/magazine/the-last-temptation-of-christian.html|first=Tim|last=Blanks|title=The Last Temptation of Christian|work=The New York Times|date=18 August 2002|access-date=14 October 2022}}{{cite web|url= https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/11/04/prophets-of-seduction |first=Francine|last=Du Plessix Gray|title=Prophets of Seduction|publisher=New Yorker|date=27 October 1996|access-date=14 October 2022}}

File:Stamps of Romania, 2005-002.jpg

Dior was nominated for the 1955 Academy Award for Best Costume Design in black and white for the Terminal Station directed by Vittorio De Sica (1953). He was also nominated in 1967 for a BAFTA for Best British Costume (Colour) for the Arabesque directed by Stanley Donen (1966).{{cite web|url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1967/film/british-costume-design-colour |title=1967 Film British Costume Design – Colour | BAFTA Awards |publisher=Awards.bafta.org |access-date=12 February 2017}} For the 11th César Awards in 1986, he was nominated for Best Costume Design (Meilleurs costumes) for the 1985 film Bras de fer.{{cite web |url=http://www.academie-cinema.org/en/ceremony/awards.html |title=Awards – Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma |publisher=Academie-cinema.org |access-date=12 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018013409/http://www.academie-cinema.org/en/ceremony/awards.html |archive-date=18 October 2014 |url-status=dead }}

• Château de La Colle Noire

{{Reflist}}

• Charleston, Beth Duncuff (October 2004). [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dior/hd_dior.htm "Christian Dior (1905–1957)"]. [https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History]. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Based on original work by Harold Koda.
• Dior, Christian (1957). [https://archive.org/details/christiandiorand007136mbp Christian Dior and I]. New York: Dutton.
• Garcia-Moreau, Guillaume, Le château de La Colle Noire, un art de vivre en Provence, Dior, 2018. [https://www.academia.edu/45102103/Le_château_de_La_Colle_Noire_un_art_de_vivre_en_Provence Read online]
• Martin, Richard; Koda, Harold (1996). [https://archive.org/details/christiandior0000mart Christian Dior]. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. {{ISBN|978-0-87099-822-5}}.

{{Commons category}}

{{wikiquote}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071013210607/http://topfoto.co.uk/gallery/Dior/default.htm Photos of Dior and Samples of New Look Fashion] (archived 13 October 2007)
• {{cite web |publisher=Victoria and Albert Museum

|url= http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1486_couture/explore.php

|title= Interactive timeline of couture houses and couturier biographies|date= 29 July 2015

}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081006041541/http://www.frenchcx.com/en_films/dior-en.html Documentary film Christian Dior, The Man Behind The Myth] (archived 6 October 2008)
• [https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/chm_museum/search/searchterm/christian%20dior Christian Dior at Chicago History Museum Digital Collections].

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