Photos By Gail
When Maria Grazia Chiuri began her tenure at Dior in 2016, she was the first woman to be appointed head designer since the house’s founding. This ensemble was the opening look in her inaugural ready-to-wear collection the summer of 2017.
Continue reading Eye On Design: Fencing Ensemble By Maria Grazia Chiuri for House of Dior
All Photos By Gail
I took so many wonderful photos at the Brooklyn Museum’s 2021 fashion exhibit, Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams, that it seems a shame not to share them with you. While the show is ancient history at this point, I am digging through my archives to bring you this breathtaking gown from Dior’s Haute Couture Autumn /Winter, 2012 Collection.
Continue reading Eye On Design: Pink and Blue Embroidered Strapless Evening Gown By Christian Dior
All Photos By Gail
Maria Grazia Chiuri (born 1964 Rome, Italy) is the first woman to be appointed artistic Director at Christian Dior. She established herself as an activist designer with the slogans she incorporated into her first ready-to-wear collection, most famously “We should all be feminists,” from the title of a 2014 essay by Chiamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Continue reading Eye On Design: Alchimiste Ensemble For House of Dior
Photos By Gail
Yves Saint Laurent was hired was hired as Christian Dior’s assistant designer in June 1955. When Dior suddenly died in 1957 — even though he had expressed a desire for Saint Laurent to succeed him — the fashion house’s management was initially hesitant about putting its empire, which by then accounted for more than half of all French haute couture exports, in the hands of a 21-year-old.
Continue reading Eye On Design: Trapeze Summer Dress By YSL for House of Dior
Photos By Gail
Christian Dior’s “New Look” was central to the postwar revival of the Paris couture system. In addition to selling individual couture dresses to private clients, Dior also sold licensed copies, like this one of his Columbine dress, which was produced in the US for American department stores. The number of such high-end reproductions was limited, but there were also mass-produced garments that catered to the desire for at least “a copy of a copy of a Dior.”
The Dress Pictured Here is a Licensed Copy of Dior’s Columbine Dress by I. Magnin and Lord & Taylor circa 1947. Photographed as Part of the Exhibit, Paris, Capital of Fashion at the Museum at FIT in Manhattan.