Christian Dior’s Blueprint for Modern Couture [PHOTOS]
![Christian Dior’s Blueprint for Modern Couture [PHOTOS] Christian Dior’s Blueprint for Modern Couture [PHOTOS]](https://wwd.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/dior2000.jpg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1)
Christian Dior’s vision for the house he founded in 1946 is firmly embedded in the DNA of the iconic fashion brand. One could not imagine a mention of the couturier without his eponymous signature “New Look” inclusive of the “Bar”, “Corelle” and “Rein” silhouettes that reignited French fashion and sent the fashion press into a frenzy. The debut, in illustrated detail, headlined the March 13, 1947, issue of Women’s Wear Daily.
Dior’s decade-long reign — he died in 1957 — produced some of the most famous silhouettes in modern fashion. His whittled corseted waistline and rounded shoulders are a hallmark of the post-WWII new feminine ideal. And though his helm at the house he built was short, the evolution of the brand continues.
Dior’s vision is in continuity with a list of noteworthy creative directors at its helm. Designers Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferre, John Galliano, Raf Simons — still heading individual brands — and now Maria Grazia Chiuri have effortlessly evolved elements of the master couturiers’ blueprint reverentially on the runway for the last 60 years and counting.
The house that Christian Dior built remains as current today as it did when Dior debuted his first couture collection at 30 Avenue Montaigne, 78 years ago.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: Fairchild Archive “Christian Dior’s Corolla Silhouette” collection debut, March 13, 1947, Women’s Wear Daily.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Yves Saint Laurent reads congratulatory telegrams after the presentation of his Dior Spring 1958 Couture collection in Paris.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
The trapeze dresses from Yves Saint Laurent’s Spring/Summer 1958 Collection for the House of Dior at the Costume Institute’s 2018 YSL Retrospective.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: Fairchild Archive Designer Marc Bohan adjusts model. Photographed inside the House of Dior atelier in Paris on January 22, 1973.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: Fairchild Archive Gillis MacGill Addison walks in the Dior Boutique Spring 1972 collection designed by Marc Bohan at Saks Fifth Avenue.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: Reginald Gray A model walks the runway in the Christian Dior by Marc Bohan Spring 1972 Couture Show on January 24, 1972, in Paris, France.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: Michel Maurou Christian Dior Fall 1979 Couture collection advance, photographed in Paris, France on July 18, 1979.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: Guy Marineau Marc Bohan for Christian Dior Spring 1986 Couture advance.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: Michel Maurou A model wears a look from the Christian Dior Fall 1979 Ready to Wear collection, on February 28, 1979, in Paris, France.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: WWD Designer Gianfranco Ferre poses with a model in a gown from his Christian Dior Fall 1993 Couture collection at the Dior design studios in Paris, France on January 11, 1995.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: WWD A model poses in an ensemble designed by Gianfranco Ferre for Christian Dior’s Fall 1992 Couture Collection in Paris, France on July 24, 1992.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: WWD A model on the runway at Gianfranco Ferre for Christian Dior Fall 1992 Ready to Wear Fashion Show.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: WWD Model Helena Christensen on the runway at Gianfranco Ferre for Christian Dior Fall 1992 Ready to Wear Fashion Show in Paris, France.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: WWD Model Carla Bruni on the runway at the Gianfranco Ferre for Christian Dior Fall 1992 Ready to Wear Fashion Show.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: WWD Designer John Galliano poses with models during the Christian Dior Spring 2010 Haute Couture collection runway show presentation.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: WWD Model Olga Sherer on the runway at the John Galliano for Christian Dior Spring 2010 haute couture show in Paris, France.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: Fairchild Archive Fashion designer Raf Simons on the runway after Christian Dior’s spring 2014 show.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: WWD A model on the runway at Christian Dior’s spring 2013 haute couture show. Designer Raf Simons.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: WWD A model on the runway at Christian Dior’s spring 2012 haute couture show. Designer Raf Simons.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: WWD A model on the runway at Christian Dior’s spring 2012 haute couture show. Designer Raf Simons.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: Giovanni Giannoni A model on the runway at Christian Dior’s spring 2012 haute couture show. Designer Raf Simons.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: WWD Maria Grazia Chiuri walks the finale of the Christian Dior Fall 2019 Haute Couture Runway Show in Paris, France.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: Giovanni Giannoni Christian Dior Fall 2016 Haute Couture Runway Show in Paris, France. Maria Grazia Chiuri creative director.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: WWD Christian Dior Spring 2017 Haute Couture Runway Show in Paris, France. Maria Grazia Chiuri creative director.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: Giovanni Giannoni Christian Dior Spring 2017 Ready To Wear Runway Show. Maria Grazia Chiuri creative director.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: WWD Backstage at the Christian Dior Fall 2019 Haute Couture Runway Show. Maria Grazia Chiuri creative director.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: Delphine Achard/WWD Backstage at the Christian Dior Fall 2023 Ready To Wear Runway Show. Maria Grazia Chiuri creative director.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: Giovanni Giannoni Christian Dior Spring 2024 Haute Couture Runway Show. Maria Grazia Chiuri creative director.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: Giovanni Giannoni Christian Dior Spring 2024 Haute Couture Runway Show. Maria Grazia Chiuri creative director.
-
Christian Dior New Look Silhouette Evolution Through The Years
Image Credit: Giovanni Giannoni A model wears a model of the House of Dior’s 30 Avenue Montaigne residence during the Christian Dior Fall 2019 Haute Couture runway show.
link