Christian Dior - biography of the designer. History of the House of Christian Dior through the eras Who owns the fashion house Dior

Christian Dior was born on January 21, 1905 in France in the city of Granville (Normandy) on the banks of the English Channel. Christian was the second child in the family. My father was engaged in the trade in chemical fertilizers and made a considerable fortune on this. Therefore, all five children of the family are in nothing
did not need. Christian's mother was beautiful woman and knew how to spend money on their pleasures and outfits. Little Christian always admired his elegant mother, the memory of her did not leave him all his life. When he was 6 years old, the family moved to Paris.

Everything, it would seem, foreshadowed a calm measured life. Christian's parents went about their own business, and Christian was preparing for a diplomatic career, although he was not at all attracted by this, but his father wished so. Art was more to his liking. He spent a lot of time with his friend Jean Bonjac in museums, studied painting and musical composition. It was the time of Russian ballets. Life in Paris served as a real school for Dior.

But the serene time is over. In 1931, his mother dies of cancer, and his father goes bankrupt and after a while falls ill with tuberculosis. What is left for him to do? starts selling his drawings (sketches of clothes and hats) to Le Figaro Illustre magazine. And he was immediately noticed by the famous fashion designer Robert Piguet at that time.
True, the rise to glory of the great couturier was interrupted by the war. However, in 1941, Christian returned to Paris and began working at the Lucien Lelong model house. Some time later, in 1942, Christian creates his own perfume line, which will soon become the Christian Dior Perfume company. His first perfumes were Miss Dior, Diorissimo, Diorama.

Christian Dior has always believed that perfume is a complement to a woman's personality, which completes her outfit.

And in 1946, he managed to awaken interest in his new projects from the very wealthy textile magnate Marcel Bussac, and with his support he opened his first Fashion House.
Perhaps the memory of his elegant mother, or maybe the end of the war and the desire to see all women beautifully and elegantly dressed, led to the fact that gave impetus to the "New Direction".

He caught the spirit of the times - after the war, everyone wanted to feel the joy of life. What many thought was a revolution in fashion simply corresponded to the needs of the people of the time.
"New Direction" or New Look - Christian Dior's first collection symbolized optimism and abundance. It was a "romantic line" in which there were soft sloping shoulders, a fitted bodice, round hips and a thin waist, wide fluffy skirts, which took up to 40 meters of fabric. Christian Dior felt how women wanted to look and offered them the desired look.

His first collection was shown on February 12, 1947, which caused a sensation almost all over the world. American journalist Carmel Snow named the collection new look- "new look", "new direction".

Dior became the king of fashion and queens came to him: Farah Diba, Duchess
Windsor, Eva Gardner, Ingrid Bergman, Rita Hayworth, Marlene Dietrich, Lauren Bacall.
For 11 years he has designed 22 different silhouettes, female figure could be similar to 8, and to H, and to A or Y, but the length of all his images was always between the knee and the ankle. And all the women impeccably followed his ideas. Dior invented new silhouettes to keep the interest in fashion going. Dior set the tone, and everyone else obeyed him.

He created unique outfits and loved to be copied. His "New Direction" is most likely a revival of that beautiful past, where luxurious and elegant outfits. And in this his creative genius was fully realized. Dior believed that fashion cannot be imposed, women accepted his new look with delight because they wanted to look feminine. In the first collection, day dresses weighed up to 4 kilograms, and evening dresses - up to 30 kilograms, but Dior's desire to revive great luxury was too great. He said: “Europe is tired of falling bombs. Now she wants to light fireworks. "

Dior's fashion models demonstrated their outfits theatrically, they quickly replaced each other, the names sounded, the swings of magnificent outfits were breathtaking. loved his models, was polite with them and affectionately called them - "My girls". Dior knew the market well, he took care of sensations and turnover, and had outstanding business qualities.

Christian Dior was a good diplomat in his field (his father's dream came true). When Dior was in America for the Oscar in design, he announced the free copying of masterpieces, but on condition that the author received some amount from all sales, that is, Christian Dior invented the license fee. And since 1949, the circulation of each of his ideas gave a percentage. And from that time on, he began to sell the right to put his brand name. In this case, the licensees had to work either in the style of the master, or copy his models.

By nature, Dior was soft, gentle and shy. Everyone who worked with him knew him as a dreamy, humble and polite person. He bowed to everyone, even the trainees made way to the elevator. Each of his employees was treated with attention, each of them chose suitable Christmas gifts. Dior provided the employees with comfort, food and social insurance.

Dior loved to feast on, hated and feared being alone. He had many friends, but most often he was surrounded by a company of his closest friends, among whom were Christian Bérard, Jean Cocteau, composers Francis Poulenc and Georges Auric, and the head of the salon Raymonda Zeinaker. Dior did not suffer from petty pride, he knew how to admire the creations of his colleagues, especially Vionne.

Christian Dior was superstitious, always before the show of the collection, and indeed in all cases of life, he consulted with his fortuneteller Madame Delahaye.
When I was preparing my new collection, I always closed myself in my office, and the servant walked quietly, and in soft slippers, so as not to disturb him. Usually every fashion designer in new collection offered one or two new basic ideas, and new models and images were created around them, and Christian Dior said so - I only have 12.

Dior opened many branches abroad, and for each of them he invented special models. The salons were located in London, New York and Caracas. All the models he invented for them were tailored to the needs of local customers. Thus, he had to develop about 1000 models a year. Dior's health was failing and he had symptoms of stress. But outwardly for outsiders, he changed little, except that he only grew thinner and thinner. Only those closest to him knew that he had already had heart attacks. And there was one more secret - he was deeply unhappy in love ...

Not all designers were delighted with Dior's creations. , who always sewed only from expensive fabrics and treated them with trepidation, considered Dior's work with fabrics terrible. And, who was in favor of the complete emancipation of women, especially in clothing, said: “Dior? He doesn't dress women, he stuffs them. " And yet, it was the great French couturier who gave the world the image of a graceful and elegant woman.

At 52, on October 24, 1957, after a sudden cardiac arrest, Christian Dior left this world.

There is now a museum in his house in Granville.

Perfumery Christian Dior.
Christian Dior perfumery ranks 4th in the world in terms of sales. Both bottles and packaging are made in the corporate style, which was introduced by Christian Dior: the gamma gray, pink and white, medallions a la Louis XVI, paper with the texture of a matting in a rib, satin ribbons.

The House of Dior has made many discoveries in the field of fragrances - some of the best are, for example, the essence of lily of the valley and vanilla.
There are currently over 90 Dior fragrances in existence.

The most popular Christian Dior fragrances:

Dior Dolce Vita (for women)
Dior Dune (for women and men)
Dior Poison (for women)
Dior Fahrenheit (for men)
Dior Miss Dior Cherie (for women)
Dior Homme Sport (for men)
Dior Higher (for men)
Dior Homme (for men)
Dior Addict (for women)
Dior J'adore (for women)

The House of Dior is the home of outstanding designers of the 20th century. In 1953, Yves Saint Laurent joined the company and after the death of Dior became the leading fashion designer of the house of Dior. In 1960, the site passed to Marc Boan, then in 1989 he was replaced by Gianfranco Ferre. Since 1996, John Galliano has been the chief designer of the house. The name Dior is synonymous with Parisian fashion.

Christian Dior for Militta Magazine

The history of the Christian Dior fashion house began in 1946 in a small mansion on the Parisian rue Montaigne, where the young and enthusiastic designer Christian Dior opened his atelier. Here, in February 1947, he presented the famous New Look collection with flared skirts and an accentuated waist to the fashionable public. New silhouette became a revolution in the ascetic post-war fashion. “I created a flower woman,” said the designer. Dior returned to women the desire to be liked, taught to draw attention to their beauty. Critics scolded him for the wasteful use of fabrics (the designer's muse and beloved client Princess Margaret was at one time banned from wearing the brand's clothes). However, discontent did not prevent the expansion of the fashion empire. In 1948, the boutique of the House appears in New York, and a year later Christian Dior licenses accessories, furs and bags under its own name. It is noteworthy that throughout his career in the fashion house, Dior himself was only a hired employee - his brand de jure belonged to the investor Marcel Bussac.

In 1957, Christian Dior unexpectedly dies for everyone, and his former assistant Yves Saint Laurent takes the reins, becoming the youngest couturier in the world - then he was only 21 years old. In the first collection of the spring-summer 1958 season, called "Trapeze", the designer slightly relaxed the body-constricting styles that dominated Christian Dior, and introduced a completely new, trapezoidal silhouette. Yves Saint Laurent commented on it this way: "I forgot about the figure in favor of style."

When Yves Saint Laurent was drafted into the army in 1960, Marc Bohan was appointed to take his place. Leading the fashion house for almost three decades (until 1989), the French designer introduced the so-called Slim Look - a more flexible and softer adaptation of the iconic Dior silhouette. Thanks to this move, Princess Grace of Monaco, Sophia Loren and Marlene Dietrich entered the circle of famous clients of the House. Unfortunately, over time, public interest in Bohan's vision began to fade, and the owner of Christian Dior Bernard Arnault (he acquired the brand in 1985) decided to change the creative director.

Boan's successor was the Italian Gianfranco Ferre, the first foreign designer invited to work at Christian Dior. Ferré brought back the aesthetics of the founder of the House, Christian Dior, with a striking silhouette, sophisticated decor and true French chic. Not surprisingly, his first collection was well received by the public. Later, for his love of architecture, Gianfranco was nicknamed "Frank Lloyd Wright of the fashion world" - by analogy with the name of the famous American architect and interior designer Frank Lloyd Wright. Ferré's triumph was relatively short-lived - he left the brand in 1996.

The post of creative director was taken by the extravagant rebel John Galliano. It was from his light hand avant-garde, intricate decor and accentuated theatricality have entered the stylistic codes of Christian Dior. Galliano ruled for 5 years, until, due to his addiction to alcohol and drugs, one day he allowed himself publicly explicit anti-Semitic statements and attacks - for this leadership the genius was forced to fire.

After Galliano, the creative process was temporarily supervised by his assistant Bill Gaten, until in 2012 Belgian Raf Simons entered the fashion scene. Adept of minimalism, Simons read the archives of the brand in his own way: he removed everything unnecessary and emphasized the essence - the form, the very feminine geometry that once broke the hearts of all fashionistas. The designer rethought the bar-jacket, presenting it either in the form of a tuxedo or bringing it to a full dress, added innovative materials (remember the famous latex boots), relied on futuristic prints, coupled with Christian Dior's signature floral metaphors. Someone condemned him, someone admired him, but one thing is for sure - three years of his work at Christian Dior went down in the history of the House as one of the brightest and most unexpected. He left the brand for personal reasons, showing his farewell Spring / Summer 2016 collection at the Louvre.

To write my article today, I was inspired by a lecture by a wonderful professional, fashion historian and just an interesting and witty person - Alexander Vasiliev.

Dior Fashion House for a long time it has been the subject of interest of many, so when I found out about this lecture, which took place in St. Petersburg at the end of December, and was lucky enough to attend it, I simply could not miss the opportunity to write this article.

Luxury is simplicity. Christian Dior

This was the life slogan and creative vision of Christian Dior. It was guided by this principle that he created his works of art that could be worn.

Russian reality and its historical background are such that our, domestic fashionistas of the past, and often of the present, do not share Dior's opinion. We still have very little "less is more" and a lot of "more", and if possible, even more more.

History of Dior. Childhood and adolescence of Christian Dior. The origins of the Dior style.

The history of Dior Fashion House has its origins in a small town in France.

Christian Dior has drawn inspiration throughout his career from dear person in his life - his mother. His mother has always been the driving force behind his creativity.

Although she was not a beauty, she has always been a fashionista who loves the luxury of simplicity and restrained chic. It is her image that Dior will recreate in each of his models.

Christian Dior was born on January 21, 1905 in the town of Granville, Normandy. Dior's father owned a fertilizer factory, so Christian's childhood was accompanied by a disgusting smell of chemicals. That is why he later decided to create only perfect and beautiful fragrances, so that no one would dare to say that Dior "stinks".

The Dior family owned a small mansion and garden on the banks of the English Channel. His mother had a passion for gardening, so Christian from childhood was surrounded by a garden in which there were magnificent, lush English roses with weightless thinnest petals.

This image - the image of a rose - will accompany Dior throughout his life. Woman-flower, woman-rose - his favorite motive, the basis of many of his dresses.

The world is obliged style New look English roses, which Christian Dior admired from childhood.

Dior, above all, appreciated their femininity in women. He never tried to make a woman a sexless creature, never created androgynous images.

Fashion must love women. Christian Dior

The beginning of Christian Dior's career

Dior's family insisted that he become a diplomat. Dior began studying at the Higher School of Diplomacy, but after studying there for a year, he abandoned this parental dream and became interested in painting. Dior planned to become a gallery owner and, being acquainted with Dali and Picasso, in 1928 he opened an art gallery with his friend Jean Bonjac.

The stock market crisis in America in 1929 ruins all his plans - people are beginning to abandon luxury goods, primarily paintings, theater, jewelry, expensive clothes. The gallery had to be closed.

But Christian's troubles don't end there. In 1929, his mother dies of cancer. As a result of the crisis, the father becomes bankrupt, and without surviving this, he dies of a heart attack.

Dior moved to a small apartment and began studying drawing to pursue a career in the fashion world. Having mastered the basics of fashion illustration, Dior began collaborating with magazines and publishing his illustrations of hats and clothes.

Soon he starts working as an assistant at the House of Mod Robert Piguet. The main trend of that time was retro dresses, the popularity of which was caused by historical films, including Gone With the Wind. Already there you can see fluffy skirts, accentuated waist and low neckline.

We can say that Europe was ready to meet new image- the image of a woman-flower, which will be called New Look. But the Second World War began and the time of New Look moved back to the 53-55s.

During the war, Dior went to work for the then famous French couturier Lucien Lelong. Female image at that time, more and more takes on masculine outlines: the silhouettes become coarser and more straight.

When the war ended and men began to return to their homeland, women wanted to contrast with them and began to abandon the harsh, ascetic image imposed on them by the war and the need to provide for themselves.

Thus, the New Look style was historically determined: after hardships, the inability to decorate your life, followed by a period of luxury, waste and unjustified immoderation of forms.

By this time, in Lelong's workshop, Dior finds a like-minded person - Pierre Balmain. Their vision of the image of a woman coincides, so they agree to leave Lelong and open their own Fashion House.

But Balmain deceived Dior, found a sponsor alone and opened the Fashion House of his own name. So Dior again finds himself without money and work. And at this critical moment in his life, he meets a childhood friend - Marcel Boussac, who by that time had become the textile king of France, a large manufacturer producing various fabrics.

Dior told Bussac about his desire to open his own fashion house to sew lush, expensive women's dresses. Bussac, being a businessman, immediately saw his benefit in this and offered cooperation to Dior.

So, in 1947, Christian Dior's studio was opened on the Montaigne embankment.

Dior Fashion House: opening and operation under the leadership of Christian Dior

I will tell you two interesting facts:

Christian Dior himself never owned fashion house your name. He always remained a hired fashion designer, but financed the activities of the company Marcel Boussac. Therefore, the main basis of the house of Dior has always been the commercial benefit.

Dior worked under his own name for only 10 years - from 1947 to 1957.

In February 1947, Dior released his first collection, which he called "The King". It was like an explosion, and a resounding success came to Dior overnight.

In his collection, Dior presented what the women of Paris have missed so much - feminine silhouettes, an open neckline with a vanderbra effect and draperies, narrow waists (from 46 to 53 cm), fluffy skirts with accented volume cushion inserts on the hips.

After the first show new style takes on the legendary name New Look.

The era of New Look was accompanied by the following characteristic elements:

emphasis on chest, waist, hips
the chest is emphasized with a basque
hats of amazing shapes, reminiscent of inverted salad bowls or mushroom caps

The style of Christian Dior's dresses combined the silhouette of a guitar and the style of Louis 16, loved by Dior since childhood.

Dior did not like and practically did not use bright colors in his work, instead of them he chose restrained, graphic shades: white, black, gray, brown, shades of smoky gray. Dior used embroidery, but it was never superfluous, it served as an ornament to dresses, and did not overload them and did not play the first violin.

Dior's dresses were not accepted only by housewives. They were too, unjustifiably expensive for them. And yet, Dior managed to reveal the essence of female happiness and give women a dream. This was expressed in advertising posters of Dior of that time: a woman was depicted on them half-turned or with her back to the camera, standing alone on the stairs.

Regal, in anticipation of meeting her chosen one, having no other rivals and ready to move on, to new heights.

In terms of the level and quality of sewing, the Dior Fashion House was second only to the Balenciaga Fashion House: if the former was called Couturier Korolev, then the latter was called Couturier of the Empresses.

The main thing in Dior's outfits has always been the cut, not the pattern or decoration.

In 1949, Christian Dior launched his first perfume, Diorama.

It is curious that Dior became one of the founders of brand mania, placing the logo of his Fashion House on the belts.
In 1955, a young, 17-year-old Yves Saint Laurent became Dior's assistant.

With his arrival, models take on new silhouettes:

A silhouette
H silhouette
Y silhouette

Christian Dior has always treated his models with love. Dior's favorite muses were the models Rene, Cook and the Russian model Alla Ilchun, who worked in the modeling business for a record number of years - 20. During this time, the model's waist increased by only 2 cm - from 47 to 49 cm.

In the Soviet Union, the New Look style first appeared on television in the 1957 film Carnival Night.

In the same 1957, Christian Dior's life was suddenly interrupted. He went to Italy, Tuscany to undergo a treatment course with medicinal mineral waters... But there on October 24 he has a heart attack, as a result of which he dies. His death was greeted with bitterness by all the employees of the Fashion House.

The History of the House of Dior: A Work after the Great Couturier.

After the death of Christian Dior, Marcel Boussac decided to appoint a young, 21-year-old Yves Saint Laurent to the post of artistic director.

However, his independent work was not successful: the silhouettes introduced by Saint Laurent were not popular with the public, the quality of dress cutting deteriorated, and the enterprise did not bring the expected income.

However, during this period the Fashion House Dior managed to come on a "tour" to Moscow, where the latest collection, released under the direction of Yves San Laurent, was shown to Moscow society.

Therefore, Saint Laurent left the House of Dior, and Marc Boen was appointed in his place. His work at Dior lasted the longest - from 1960 to 1989.

Boen has been very successful as the creative director of Dior. Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco, Jacqueline Kennedy, Betsy Bloomingdale and many other style icons of their time became clients of the fashion house during his leadership of Boen.

After him, until 1997, Gianfranco Ferre worked as the artistic director of the Fashion House Dior, who received excellent reviews. He was called the second Dior, it was believed that he revived the traditions of the famous couturier.

But, who by that time became the owner of the House of Dior, Bernard Arnault wanted to attract more attention to Dior's models, he did not have enough strict elegance and restraint of the outfits that Ferre created. Therefore, the contract with him was not renewed, and in 1997 he was replaced by the extravagant and scandalous John Galliano.

Christian Dior is a great French couturier, whose name is inscribed in gold letters in the history of world fashion, the founder of the eponymous fashion house, one of the top 5 luxury brands in the world of fashion and beauty Christian Dior. The name Dior has become synonymous with luxury, grace and impeccable taste, and quotes from the great master about female beauty and what fashion and style are, have long become winged.

Christian Dior was one of five children born to a successful chemical fertilizer trader. Under the influence of the Christian family, after graduation, he successfully graduated from the School of Political Science, but did not work in his specialty - an artist at heart, Dior gravitated towards art. Christian, together with his friend Jean Bojan, discovered picture gallery, where the works of the Impressionists and Postmodernists were exhibited. However, the financial crisis of 1929 made its own adjustments to the fate of the future couturier: due to a lack of funding, the gallery had to be closed. Dior found a way to support himself and show his talent at the same time: he began to draw and sell sketches to Parisian fashion houses, and also illustrated the magazine Le Figaro. Even then, he realized that fashion is his vocation.

The talent of the young artist did not go unnoticed: believing in the great future of the designer, Marcel Boussac, being a textile magnate, allocated him funding for the construction of a fashion house and the purchase of the necessary equipment and fabrics. The very first collection of the Christian Dior workshop, released in 1947, had the effect of an exploding bomb: dresses with chic crinolines and wasp waists were contrary to the policy of post-war economy of material and unified silhouettes.

Best of all, the couturier's ideas are explained by his quotes: “I wanted women to become beautiful again” and “The style that everyone called new is just my vision of fashion as it should be. However, my desire coincided with the desire of the public, and fashion became his slogan. " Thanks to the American journalist Carmel Snow, Christian Dior's revolutionary style has acquired the name new look. Dresses, jackets, ankle-length skirts heralded a renaissance of true feminine appeal.

Feminine silhouettes

New look: the renaissance of a woman

The Christian Dior fashion house has become the birthplace of new styles that most advantageously outline the female figure.
The fashion for dresses, skirts and jackets created by the great couturier is still relevant to this day.

Silhouettes New look

Dresses

The silhouette of the new look is sloping shoulders without shoulder pads, a narrow bodice, an accentuated waist and a wide, flared skirt that radiates from the hips in soft folds. It is thanks to dresses of this cut that Christian Dior gained worldwide love and popularity, because in them any woman looks graceful and attractive. The master's love for dresses is evidenced by his quotes: "Dresses for me are my whole life" and "I am obsessed with them, they guide me in all circles of hell and heaven."

Decorating and decorating a fashion house

The emergence of the new look direction

Pencil skirt

It has become a real classic and an integral attribute, also invented by Christian Dior. Fitting hips, knee-length, this skirt looks great both with tops and blouses, and with jackets and jumpers.

Jacket with peplum

The master called the model he created “a bar jacket”. They were distinguished by a fitted cut, a narrow bodice and a short peplum peplum peplum, diverging in waves from the waist. Christian Dior suggested wearing a bar jacket with a pencil skirt or dress. - straight silhouette are relevant with the filing of a French couturier.

Peplum Bar Jackets

Fluffy skirt

The skirts invented by the designer on a narrow bodice had a length either just below the knees or to the floor. Some models took 40 meters of fabric - the creations falling in exciting folds weighed several kilograms.

Christian Dior has long captured the minds of fashionistas around the world. Each collection of the designer was awaited with special impatience and accepted almost unconditionally. However, it did not go without critics, Dior's attitude to whom can be understood from the quote: "Better to scold on the front page than devote two lines to praise on the last page."

Collection details

During his life, Dior has received many awards, including the Order of the Legion of Honor. However, fashion is not the only area to which the designer's talent extended: he created perfumes, accessories and glasses, invented costumes for movie actors, and also looked for and helped develop young talented designers: with his blessing, Pierre Cardin, Frederic Caste, entered the world of fashion. Jean Louis Scherrer and other couturiers. The designer was famous for his ability to choose the right words, almost everyone knows his quotes: "Fashion lives by its own laws, it is not subject to all other laws."

Handmade in the decoration of clothing items

The heritage of the master - Christian Dior fashion house

Even after more than half a century since the death of the couturier, the successors of his legacy carefully respect traditions and preserve the style: the house of Christian Dior can be called one of the most conservative (in good sense) from fashion houses in France.
Femininity remains a priority for contemporary art directors of the house - at Dior haute-couture shows, you will not see non-androgynous models or faceless outfits.

Among the art directors of the fashion house are Yves Saint Laurent, Gianfranco Ferré, as well as John Galliano and Raf Simons.

From the Dior 2016 show

Perfume

Today Christian Dior is not only a haute couture atelier, but also perfume brand, which ranks 4th in the lists of world sales. The importance of perfume was highly appreciated by Christian Dior himself, here is part of his famous quote: "Perfume is the final, final touch of the image." The most popular fragrances of the house are J`adore and Miss Dior, in the advertising campaigns of which such stars as Charlize Theron and Natalie Portman took part (in the next photo).

Celebrity Dresses

Christian Dior dresses regularly appear on the red carpets of all kinds of film festivals - actresses and socialites appreciate them for their unsurpassed luxury and emphasized femininity. The next photo shows Dior's favorite, Charlize Theron, in a black dress with a train.

Celebrities in Dior dresses

Jennifer Lawrence (pictured) is known not only for her spectacular exits: the dresses of the Dior house with enviable regularity emphasize the unusual beauty of the actress.
At the Oscars, Jennifer wore a dress in a classic silhouette in a delicate pearl shade (in the next photo):

Dior dresses on the carpet

Classic dresses with a narrow bodice and fluffy skirt the floor is chosen by such style icons as Sarah Jessica Parker (pictured) and Diane Kruger.

Dior choice Sarah Jessica Parker

Diane Kruger in dresses from Dior

Famous glasses models

In addition to clothing lines, the house of Christian Dior is known for its accessories: bags and Sunglasses, developed by its designers, become must-haves of fashionistas all over the world.
The So Real glasses (pictured) are incredibly popular this season. One of the first glasses was tried on by Rihanna, who recently became the face of the brand. The trend was picked up by fashion bloggers - photos of girls in So real glasses appear on the Internet every now and then.

The Technologic model (pictured) is no less popular - modern, dynamic and lightweight glasses that emphasize the owner's style. With futuristic frames and laconic colors, Technologic eyewear has become a hit of the season - the fashion for them has swept the whole world.

Pilot and Millenium eyewear are true classics of Christian Dior - flowing shapes and bright colours optics are relevant at any time of the year.

Pilot and Millenium

Fashion and style created by the great designer have been setting the tone for almost a century. Modern fashion unthinkable without the legacy of Christian Dior, an artist who allowed a woman to become a woman again and remain her forever, and the designer's quotes may well become a short style guide: "Elegance is a symbiosis of simplicity, naturalness, individuality and attention to herself and her clothes."

Maria Grazia Chiuri has been the Creative Director of Dior for just over a year. She never dreamed of this role. “And all why? she asks. “Because before me this position has never been held by a woman.”

We settled down in the spacious hall of the Dior Paris office. There are gilded mirrors on the walls. Above your head is a pair of crystal chandeliers. Everything else is decorated in Dior's trademark pale gray: ceiling, walls, sofa, a pair of chairs with oval backs in the style of Louis XVI.

Curie, 52, is dressed in black. Black pants, black blouse, black high heels, and soot black eyeliner. She has blonde hair and a haircut with a clear parting on the side. Like Alessandro Michele of Gucci, her fingers are adorned with massive rings, one of them is the Codognato skull, the other is made according to Maria Grazia's own design.

Just nine months have passed since the day former Valentino co-director showed the debut couture collection for Dior at the Musée Rodin during Paris Haute Couture Week, but it's no exaggeration to say that Curie's influence has taken the 70-year-old fashion house to a new level. : under her, the podium became a platform for discussion about feminism and art.

At the spring-summer 2018 show, Curie reminded a wide audience of the work of two more great women. She created a catwalk-style space in the style of the Tuscan Tarot garden of the artist and former Dior client Niki de Saint Phalle, and also launched models in vests with the caption "Why weren't there great artists?" - the title of legendary essay by historian Linda Nohlin.

Maria Grazia has proposed a new vision for the modern Dior woman: she still prefers to dress up in ball gown with stiletto heels in the evening, and during the day wears long sleeves, wide jeans, a pair of comfortable flat shoes and a shoulder bag.

They call you a designer activist. What do you think about it?

I don’t think I’m an activist. Dior is all about femininity. When I first came here, everyone kept repeating this. Okay, I said, we should prioritize femininity, but what does it mean today?

I try to talk about the position of women today and in the future. It seems to me that Dior clothes should give a woman strength. Flowers alone are not enough for this. I know that many people feel nostalgic and dream of living in a world that is reminiscent of this past, where Dior looks just like it did in the 1950s. I myself think that memories are wonderful, and I really appreciate our legacy. If I modern woman who wants a vintage dress, then go to Didier Ludot and buy that same Dior from the past.

But if I go to a modern Dior boutique, I want to find something that simultaneously speaks of a rich heritage and is created for today's life. I know that there are other points of view on this score, I respect them, but my point of view is indicated above.

Marc Boanne has been Dior's longest-serving fashion designer, but his influence is often overlooked. Does his work inspire you personally?

Yes. If you look at Yves Saint Laurent, you will see that his work is closer to that of Dior himself. Mark Boan completely changed the image of the House. His silhouettes became crisp and chunky in the 1960s. Why? Because a revolution was taking place in the world of women at that time, a tremendous shift took place both in their own views and in the view of society on them. It was not the designer who changed the line of the fashion house, it was the women who changed, and the designer noticed in time that his clients were different. A couturier must understand women.

Sometimes designers are hailed as revolutionaries. Sorry, but this is not the case. This woman is changing, and the designer is changing the approach to her. Today we need to understand a new generation of women, and this is not easy.

Young people today are completely different from the old: they consume more information, they are much more individual in their opinions. If the T-shirt is made of cotton, my son looks at which country it was made in. This is a completely new audience, with different values and ideas about what is good and what is bad. Today they can buy fashionable clothes anywhere and for a pittance to recreate the same look from the catwalk. In this world, a luxury brand needs to maintain the brand's weight, quality and craftsmanship while at the same time starting a new dialogue with these new guys. And a modern dialogue should be about values. Not only about clothes.

In your latest collection, there are references to the work of Niki de Saint Phalle. How did you discover it for yourself?

Upon joining the company, I immediately started working on [an exhibition at the Museum of Decorative Arts] (/ peopleparties / afisha / 300_platev_dior_v_muzee_dekorativnogo_iskusstva_v_parizhe /) (: target = "_ blank"), which immersed me in the history of Dior... The fashion house has a long and rich history; completely different designers have worked here, who have managed to convey the values of the house in different ways for almost 70 years.

During my research, I found photographs of Niki de Saint Phalle wearing Dior clothing and her dress request letters addressed to Marc Bohan. I began to collect information about Nicky, and gradually her image and her ideas about femininity began to emerge in the collection.

Nicky started in the 1950s as a Dior model, she was really beautiful. Relatives persuaded her to become an actress, and she decided to take up the visual arts at a time when it was almost impossible for women to earn money in this area.

You showed T-shirts on the runway "Why weren't there great artists?" Why do you feel that this question should still be asked today?

If a woman was “unlucky” and did not have the opportunity to go to a prestigious school, she was not born into a wealthy family, and the state is unable to help, it will be very difficult for her to achieve success not only in the field of art, but also in any other field. I think that a similar thought still sits in women’s heads. Imagining how hard it will be, the girls do not even try to do what they really would like.

Very often people ask me: "Have you ever imagined that you will find yourself in the House of Dior?" - "No". - "But why?" Because before me, a woman had never held this position. I believed it was possible to work in the fashion industry, and to be honest, I was very lucky because I started at Fendi, where incredible women work who supported me. But why did I have such installations inside? They were somehow in me at the level of DNA, that is, this problem is not only external, but also internal. It is impossible to believe that you can do something if the patriarchal world insists that a woman cannot. I do not think that today there is at least one girl in the world who would believe in what could become Michelangelo. Most likely, she will say: this is too difficult, it is impossible. This fear lives within us, and we limit ourselves.

You are famous for your pragmatic approach to your role: you personally visit production facilities and understand business issues. Why is this important to you?