Dior, Chanel, maybe Versace – you can’t turn the corner of a street without seeing a cheap T-shirt with one or the other name emblazoned on it. Last week I even heard a rapper say his name was Dior.
What do these ‘fashion lovers’ actually know of the perseverance, vision, self-belief and sheer hard work it took to propel the name Dior, in this case, to such fame. Without any of the above talent is not much use. The ten-year-old Christian Dior was passionate about drawing and art so he started to sell his ‘fashion drawings’ in the street outside his father’s house. His parents probably hoped this was just the child’s passing phase. Even when I was in school in rural France the bourgeoisie exerted huge pressure, mainly on their sons, to become avocats (lawyers) or magistrates or – even better, diplomats.
Christian persevered with his dream and before he was twenty he was spotted by the influential and charismatic Robert Piguet who took him, as well as Hubert de Givenchy, under his wing. And the rest is history. ‘Robert Piguet’ Dior said, ‘taught me the virtues of simplicity through which true elegance must come.’
The Kunstmuseum in Den Haag has mounted this superlative exhibition of not only the original creations of Christian Dior himself, the go-to designer for Royalty and superstars from around the world, but also of those whose careers were launched into the fashion big time who followed him as creative directors after his death – Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, and more recently the first female director, Maria Grazia Chiuri. Each of these had significant impact but none has surpassed Dior’s original ‘New Look’, the tightly tailored and thinly belted cream jacket atop either a black full mid-calf or the slimmest of black pencil skirt – the perfect elegance through simplicity. Such was Dior’s ‘New Look’ influence that my refugee mother, without a cent to her name after the war, brought home a French uniform jacket from the Red Cross and tailored herself such a jacket. She wore it with a black pencil skirt – and looked fabulous.
During the war years dress material had been in short supply, giving women a boxy look and knee-length skirts. Now Dior now had the luxury of an ample supply of cloth. His talent for extravagantly draped rich materials is unequalled. He designed a skirt in panels called ‘the windmill’ skirt. A large supersize black coat was based on the huge, rough woollen winter cape-like coats mountain shepherds wore. He was inspired by all and everything. The simplicity of some of his most beautiful creations borders on genius.
Each of Dior’s followers gradually lost some of this effortless elegance until John Galliano used his Dior platform for his personal fantasies. His section, all tinsel and glitter was, for me, the weakest. It seemed to have retained nothing of the purity of Dior. But now things are looking up with the arrival of Maria Grazia Chiuri whose mission is to design clothes in which the body feels good.
An Indian friend once told me that when her mother’s neighbour was pregnant she pointed to her bulging frontage saying, “There is a doctor in there”. We must be grateful that Dior did not succumb to his father’s wishes to become a lawyer, judge, diplomat – or even Président de la République. Instead he inspired women with his exquisite creations.
All the designs are wonderfully staged with some of the fascinating work processes shown. There are early drawings, photos of how and where Dior worked, some fascinating early film of his models and a superbly displayed collection of jewellery, handbags and other bits and pieces. Astrid Burchardt, 19th September 2024
This exhibition, which runs until 26th January 2025, is a must-see.
