DESIGNER OF DREAMS

Christian Dior is marking 70 years of glamour with a retrospective of more than 300 of its most stunning haute couture gowns from across the decades. “Models, actors and musicians jostled for front row seats at the Dior Haute Couture Fashion Week Show” in Paris, where the house launched “Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams” at the Musée des Arts Decoratifs on July 3, reported The Daily Mail.

The exhibition, which is open to the public until January 7 next year, tracks the house’s journey from its famous founder to the work of his successors, including Yves Saint Laurent, John Galliano, Raf Simons and Maria Grazia Chiuri. Described by The New York Times as “a revolutionary figure”, Christian Dior founded his fashion house in 1947. He created the “New Look” for women, with his dresses flaring out from the waist to create curvaceous forms.

The gowns on display, says the house, feature “a unifying thread of emotions, life stories, affinities, inspirations, creations and legacies. Alongside the dresses is the most wide-ranging display to date of workshop canvases and fashion photographs, as well as hundreds of documents (illustrations, sketches, documentary photographs, letters and notes, and advertising documents) and fashion accessories (hats, jewellery, bags, shoes and perfume bottles).”

“The exhibition pays homage to the house’s stylistic vocabulary, while drawing on the beauty of the building itself,” said Vogue. “A selection of Dior’s most spectacular gowns is showcased under the 15-metre-high arched ceiling, and includes those worn by Princess Grace of Monaco, Princess Diana and Charlize Theron.”