Happy Birthday Christian Dior! He would have been 111 years old today! He was born in France in 1905 and died at the young age of 52. He is primarily known as the founder of one of the most popular fashion houses, Christian Dior, which legacy continues to influence the fashion industry today.Always an artist, in his early 20s, Christian drew and sold fashion sketches for 10-cents each! (oh my... the value of those well-spent dimes today.) In 1928, Christian Dior's father gave him money to open an art gallery - with the stipulation that the family name would never appear above the door. He sold art by the likes of Pablo Picasso. However, due to family tragedies, he closed the gallery in 1931.
After closing the gallery, Christian Dior again drew fashion sketches, this time designing collections for a few renowned fashion houses. In 1946, with the backing of Marcel Boussac, then the richest man in France, Dior founded his own fashion house. One of his first collections focused on showcasing a woman's hourglass silhouette, which became a revolutionary new look, featuring small shoulders, a tiny waist, and a voluminous skirt - a drastic change from the World War II look of padded shoulders and short skirts.
Before his death in 1957, Dior introduced more fashion silhouettes that are well known and still popular today: the H-line, the A-line, and the Y-line. So - here's to you, Monsieur Dior, a designer of timeless style... happy birthday!
