Christian Dior was a famous fashion designer born in Normandy, France in 1905. He studied political science but wanted to be an architect. After closing his successful art gallery, he sold fashion sketches and worked for various fashion companies before starting his own. His New Look design heavily influenced fashion in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He died in 1957 and was succeeded by his assistant, Yves Saint Laurent.
Christian Dior was one of the most influential fashion designers in the world. During his career, he has been responsible for the majority of French fashion design exports worldwide. Dior was born on January 21, 1905 in the seaside town of Granville in Normandy, France.
Christian Dior’s family was well off and he grew up with four other siblings in a house overlooking the ocean. When Christian was about five years old, the family moved to Paris, France, but he still returned to the Normandy coast for the summer holidays. Christian studied political science to please his parents even though he wanted to be an architect.
Although Christian Dior’s parents had hoped that their son would become a diplomat, his father financed Christian’s opening of an art gallery in 1928. However, the proviso was that the family name should not be placed anywhere on the brings. The art gallery was a success and showcased the works of artists such as Pablo Picasso. Three years later, after the deaths of Dior’s mother and brother and the decline of the family’s fertilizer business, the gallery had to be closed.
With the closure of his art gallery, Christian Dior made a living selling his fashion sketches to haute couture houses. Subsequently, he became assistant to couturier Robert Piguet. Dior made dresses for the wives of Nazi officers during World War II. He worked for the fairly large fashion company owned by Lucien Lelong from 1940 to 1945 before moving to Marcel Boussac’s business. Boussac, called The King of Cotton, owned a clothing company named Phillipe in Gaston.
Boussac helped finance the Maison Dior into a villa with eight employees. By 1947, Christian Dior’s New Look was heavily influencing fashion around the world. The term, New Look, was given to its designs after many comments that Dior’s clothes had a new look that was different from the usual style of the time. The fresh look of Dior’s dress was an eye-catching, form-fitting hourglass shape and he was known as the foremost designer of the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Christian Dior rose to wealth and success as a world-renowned fashion designer. He died in Italy in 1957 after choking on a fish bone and then having a heart attack. Yves Saint Laurent, Dior’s assistant for four years, became Dior’s chief stylist following Christian’s death.
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