The anniversary exhibition dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the creation of the Christian Dior fashion house opens at the Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts in Paris.
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The curators promise a spectacle that is rich, spectacular, full of information about Christiane Dior, the most brilliant Parisian couturier, and other prominent pros who fate has tied to a unique brand. Six art directors of the brand Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Boan, Gianfranco Ferret, John Galliano, Raf Symons and the most recent star Maria Grazia Curie really form an outstanding series, and each of them is a star worthy of a monograph. The exhibition will feature more than 300 outfits produced by the fashion house from 1947 to our days, a lot of shots taken by famous photographers, and unprecedented documentary material (sketches, illustrations, photo reports, letters, manuscripts, advertising).
The exhibition will be complemented by fashionable accessories: hats, jewelry, perfume bottles. Of course, a special section will be devoted to the couturier himself, art lover and frequenter of Parisian museums. The two exhibition commissioners, Florence Muller and Olivier Gabe, combined the chronological and thematic principles of building the exposition.
Raf Simons for Christian Dior, haute couture autumn-winter 2012. Evening dress Atlas-duchesse, yellow print by R. Sterling RP178. Paris, Dior héritage. © Photo Les Arts Décoratifs / Nicholas Alan Cope 
Ив Сен-Лоран для Christian Dior, платье Good Driving. haute couture весна-лето spring-summer 1958, колл. Trapeze. Платье-пальто. Шесть от Родье. Paris, Pierre Bergé Foundation - Yves Saint Laurent. © Photo Decorative Arts / Nicholas Alan Cope 
J. Galliano for Christian Dior. Ensemble Shéhérazade, haute couture, spring-summer 1998. Evening ensemble. Kimono inspired by Russian ballets, silk, velvet, embroidery, applique, inlay with Swarovski crystals. Long dress with fur from a double layer of satin. Paris, Dior héritage. © Photo Les Arts Décoratifs / Nicholas Alan Cope 
J. Ferret for Christian Dior, Palladio dress, haute couture Spring-Summer 1992, call. Au vent léger d’un été. Long dress with fur boa. Pleated silk embroidery. Paris, Dior héritage. © Photo Les Arts Décoratifs / Nicholas Alan Cope 
M. Boan for Christian Dior. Gamin suit, haute couture autumn-winter 1961, call. Charme 62. Tweed suit. Short jacket with a double row of buttons. A-line skirt. Shawl collar. Paris, Dior héritage. © Photo Les Arts Décoratifs / Nicholas Alan Cope 
C. Dior, Junon dress, haute couture autumn-winter 1949, Milieu du siècle line. Evening Dress. Tulle, embroidery, sequins. Paris, Dior héritage. © Photo Les Arts Décoratifs / Nicholas Alan Cope 
K. Dior, dress Opéra bouffe, haute couture autumn-winter 1956, line Aimant. Evening dress, thick silk file from Abraham. Paris, Dior héritage. © Photo Les Arts Décoratifs / Nicholas Alan Cope 
M. G. Currie for Christian Dior. Dress Essence d’herbier, haute couture spring-summer 2017. Cocktail dress with fringe. Embroidery, raffia, Swarovski crystals. Embroidery repeats the embroidery pattern invented by K. Dior. Paris, Dior héritage. © Photo Les Arts Décoratifs / Nicholas Alan Cope The previous retrospective on Christian Dior was held in 1987 here, at the Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts. Then the focus was on the decade from 1947 to 1957. The current exhibition shows how Christian Dior himself and six subsequent art directors understood and created the reputation of a fashion house, which, in fact, became a synonym for French haute couture. With their individual sense of fashion, Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Boan, Gianfranco Ferret, John Galliano, Raf Symons and Maria Grazia Curie created a stylistic vocabulary absolutely consistent with the style of Christian Dior himself and at the same time developing his principles. The exhibition presents works by masters who participated in the fashion house collections: designer working with fur, Frederic Caste, perfumer Serge Lüthans, Belgian makeup artist Peter Philips, perfumer Francois Demachy.
The exhibition should make a grand impression, since the exhibition contains not only exhibits from a dozen Parisian museums, including the Museum d'Orsay and the Georges Pompidou Center for Contemporary Art. The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, the London Victoria and Albert Museum, the De Young Museum in San Francisco and others are participating in the project. • The exhibition “Christian Dior, Couturier of Dreams”, Museum of Decorative Arts, Paris, from July 5, 2017 to January 7, 2018.
