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The House of Dior: Seventy Years of Haute Couture — Text by Katie Somerville, Lydia Kamitsis & Danielle Whitfield

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"Facts and images that have not been exposed in the other dozen or so books.... an insider’s look and assessment of the codes, ateliers, and brand extensions of the house. Even the most well-informed and seasoned reader will find plenty to relish here."

— New York Journal of Books

"As The House of Dior exemplifies — and visually demonstrates via hundreds of photographs — its creative directors may enter and exit the house having left their individual marks on its ready-to-wear collections, but the heart of Dior will always beat for haute couture."

— Refinery 29

"Dior in all its chic, refined glory."

Paper Magazine

This luxury fashion book is a sensational large-format celebration of 70 years of Dior fashion produced in close collaboration with the House of Dior, one of the world's most prestigious couture houses

A beautiful anniversary tribute, The House of Dior: Seventy Years of Haute Couture features garments designed by Christian Dior Couture between 1947 and 2017, with more than 100 stunning images. 

The House of Dior explores the story of the fashion house through a series of themes, featuring works by the seven designers who have played key roles in shaping Dior’s renowned fashionable silhouette: Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Raf Simons and Maria Grazia Chiuri.

It narrates Dior’s rich history, including Christian Dior’s early influences, insights into the Dior atelier workrooms, the role that accessories and perfume have played in expressing the complete Dior look and the milestones of its six successive designers following Dior’s sudden death in 1957.

“Haute couture dresses have the unique and extraordinary character of art objects,” Christian Dior said. “They are among the last remaining things to be made by hand, by human hands whose value remains irreplaceable for they endow everything they create with qualities that a machine could never give them: poetry and life.”

More than 11 inches wide by 14 inches tall, this beautifully produced, 256-page, retrospective is a dream of fashion scholarship, effortlessly spanning from Dior’s first iconic New Look spring collection in 1947 through the eras of Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Raf Simmons and today’s Maria Grazia Chiuri.

Sumptuous in its design, this large-format hardback is led by full-page photography of works, and historical and contextual imagery. Writers include leading fashion writer Lydia Kamitsis and curators Katie Somerville and Danielle Whitfield.

THE DETAILS

Format: Large hardcover

Condition: New

Published: September 26, 2017

Publisher: National Gallery of Victoria (Australia)

ISBN: 9781925432336

Pages: 256, more than 100 images

Dimensions: 11.5" inches W - 1.5"inches D x 14.5" inches L

ABOUT CHRISTIAN DIOR

Christian Dior began his fashion career late in life. Following political science studies and a career running two successive art galleries between 1928 and 1934, where he displayed the works of major artists of the era, Dior commenced working as a fashion illustrator, producing sketches for local couturiers, milliners and newspapers, such as Le Figaro.

In 1938, Dior was hired as design assistant for Robert Piguet and, after his war service, in 1941 he went to work for the fashion house Lucien Lelong as a junior designer, where he remained for the next five years.

Dior opened his couture house, Christian Dior, on December 16, 1946, with a staff of sixty at 30 Avenue Montaigne, Paris. Launching his first spring–summer collection the following year, on the February 12, 1947, Dior introduced a new post-war silhouette comprised of rounded shoulders, boned bodices, padded hips and full skirts made with an abundance of fabric that reaffirmed ideals of femininity and luxury in fashion. This was known as the New Look.

Over the next decade, Dior continued to recalibrate French couture with his twice-yearly collections of new lines and his designs were frequently worn by film stars, aristocrats and royalty.

In 1948, Dior opened the first American Company Christian Dior – New York, Inc., followed by C.D. Models in London in 1952, and Christian Dior Venezuela, Inc. in 1953. In the early 1950s, he initiated manufacturing under license contracts with department stores in Canada, Australia, Mexico, Cuba and Chile.

The House also expanded to include accessory lines such as perfume, millinery, stockings, gloves, shoes and jewellery. Up until his death of a heart attack in October 1957 at the age of 52, Dior drove what is considered the international renaissance of French couture.