Three reasons why Dior still manages to capture our heart

by Adriel G Chuin

Often mythologized, he is touted as the person who was solely responsible for the Golden Age of Couture from 1947 to 1957 in Europe, America and beyond. An accidental marvel of his time, Christian Dior’s revolutionary spirit proved to be a zeitgeist when he liberated women by merely changing her silhouette. And the rest, as they say, is fashion history.

Today, Monsieur Dior’s unapologetically romantic visions still continue to endure as his legacy lives on in 30 Ave Montaigne – decades after the founding of his eponymous fashion house. And the House of Dior still manages to infiltrate the highest echelons of society – from dressing blue bloods; to Hollywood royalty; to even political nobility. Its elegant offerings have also caressed the soft leather interiors of Bentleys; swept down the pew-lined aisles of cathedrals and even grazed the polished marble floors of the White House.

Here are some of the biggest contributions the House of Dior has offered to modern fashion and pop culture:

1. The New Look

Something very special happened on a winter’s morning in 1947 that forever altered the course of fashion history as we know it. Monsieur Dior presented his first collection: the Corolle line on the 12th of February 1947; otherwise better recognised by its alias as the “New Look” ¬– a term christened by the venerable Carmel Snow, the Editor-in-chief of Harper’s BAZAAR during the time.

“A golden age seemed to have come again. War had passed out of sight and there were no other wars on the horizon. What did the weight of my sumptuous materials, my heavy velvets and brocades, matter? When hearts were light, mere fabrics could not weigh the body down,” the couturier famously said.

And with its wasp-thin waists and full skirts that unfurled with every twirl, this was just the liberation women needed after the war. Monsieur Dior quickly became the unlikely agent of change with his sheer unbridled positive-optimism; elevating the mood of women and becoming a catalyst for fashion’s triumphant and seductive return to glamour.

2. The Modern Muses

The designer known for his unapologetically feminine designs that appealed to women of every age naturally dressed many women of untold influence. From the late Duchess of Windsor and Princess of Wales, to every American First Lady since Jacqueline Kennedy, and most recently, dare we say, even Melania Trump (lest we forget that ivory column when she had an audience with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace this past summer) – have all bent to the will of a Christian Dior number.

And who can ever forget Emma Watson in that sharp shantung silk tuxedo dress she wore during her #HeForShe speech at the United Nations in 2014, or even Hollywood’s favourite tomboy Jennifer Lawrence’s terrific tumble at the 2013 Oscars in that frothy couture cumulus?

So such is the immense appeal of the House of Dior, which still speaks of the founder’s pervasive influence – an influence that spans generations and different walks of life.

3. The Lady Dior

Speaking of the Princess of Wales, an exceptional woman of Lady Diana Spencer’s station has unrestricted access to any arm candy her heart so desires, but only one bag managed to catch her fancy. Presented to the People’s Princess as a gift in 1995, by Bernadette Chirac, the former First Lady of France, Her Royal Highness immediately fell head over heels for it and ordered it made in every colour and texture.

And we can see why – the elegant free hanging charms, the iconic Cannage weave so synonymous with the House of Dior, the soft rounded handles inspired by the backs of the Louis XV chairs that punctuate every room in Monsieur Dior’s salon on Avenue Montaigne – it is easy to fall in love with it.

A year after the mother of the future King of England successfully incorporated the bag in her sartorial repertoire, the otherwise unnamed bag got rightfully renamed in Diana’s honour in 1996 – and immediately making it one of the favourite arm candies of the stylish set and the ladies who lunch.