As you have probably read earlier, my daughter and I enjoyed a day out last Friday. I hadn't been to the National Gallery of Victoria before, though I had been to the Arts Centre. It was much larger than I thought and it took us roughly three hours to view the entire "The House of Dior" exhibition.
Christian Dior ~ Founder and Creative Director until his unexpected death in 1957.
My daughter took 261 photos, much to many to share, but this post is still photo heavy.
Many of the items photographed were behind glass, which unfortunately shows reflections of the lighting amongst other things. However, I'll begin with Dior's own designs . . . the Bar Suit was from his first spring/summer collection in 1947, it's difficult to see the pleating in the skirt, but they are there!
The beautiful tulle gown with the silk roses at the back, which I had so desperately hoped to see, unfortunately did not appear in this exhibition.
This little number from the spring/summer 1948 is in a fine black and white hounds-tooth check.
Dior designed an evening dress from similar fabric (to the above) for his 1953 spring/summer collection.
Evening dress designed by Dior for the spring/summer collection 1958.
Yves Saint Laurent ~ Creative Director 1957 - 1960.
Blue Bavardage coat from spring/summer 1958.
Masquerade, a short evening dress for spring/summer 1958.
Black was one of Yves Saint Laurent's favourite colours. He stated 'I love black because it affirms, designs and styles. A woman in a black dress is a pencil stroke.'
Marc Bohan ~ Creative Director 1960 - 1989
The longest serving CD (29 years) for the House of Dior and the least public profile. His designs balanced the traditions of elegance and luxury with crisp modern styling. He presented his last collection for the house, The Year of India, in 1989.
Day dress from the Heritage Collection autumn/winter 1969/70.
Slim Look, spring/summer 1961.
Gianfranco Ferre ~ Creative Director 1989-1996
From the tailored to the flamboyant, he revelled in his role as the first non French person to hold the position as CD.
Disney evening suit for the Ascot - Cecil Beaton Collection autumn/winter 1989/90.
Although I liked much of the exhibition, this was my most favourite of them all, the detail with the beading was incredible! I was so taken with the suit, I didn't look to see who designed it or what collection it was from. As it was shown with the Disney suit, I am assuming Gianfranco Ferre was the designer.
John Galliano ~ Creative Director 1996 - 2011
A bold choice and the first British designer to hold the post.
From a collection inspired by the opera Madame Butterfly and traditional Japanese costume, Galliano makes a feature of the origami-style folds in combination with delicate floral embroidery.
There was even a little of the steampunk influence in his work!
Kamata ball gown spring/summer 1997 showing an African influence.
Look 27 evening dress, autumn/winter 2010-11.
Raf Simons ~ Creative Director 2012 - 2015
The Belgian designer revisited the exceptional tailoring of Christian Dior and his adoration of flowers and eighteenth century references.
Look 21 evening dress autumn/winter 2012-13 and Look 37 evening dress autumn/winter 2013-14.
Look 54 dress spring/summer 2015. It wasn't the most inspiring collection in my opinion.
Maria Grazia Chiuri ~ Creative Director 2016 to current day.
Italian designer Maria Grazia Chiuri, commenced her tenure as the firs female head of the house in July 2016. Interested in designs that resonate with younger audiences, while remaining in the traditional couture realm of aspirational, transformative clothes.
Part of the spring/summer 2017 collection.
Constellations ball gown (black & white photo) spring/summer 2017.
Top to Toe
"The well dressed woman will possess and outfit for every occasion: by the word outfit I mean everything that goes to make up perfection, planned and thought through to the last detail from the fur coat to the shoes."
CHRISTIAN DIOR
"I think it is as important for a woman to have a beautiful perfume as it is for her to have beautiful clothes."
CHRISTIAN DIOR
As early as 1947, Christian Dior described himself as a perfumer and couturier.
Roger Vivier ~ Footwear Designer
The most important creative relationship for Dior in relation to footwear was with this French designer, who he met socially in 1949. Vivier's shoes for Dior are widely acknowledged as being as luxurious and influential as the clothing. He incorporated the same level of exquisite embroidery and opulent fabric selection as the fashion collections, and developed important and iconic heel silhouettes, such as the curving comma and towering stiletto.
Some of these shoes look like they have just appeared in a James Bond movie!
Stephen Jones ~ Milliner
Stephen Jones has had a long and accomplished career creating hats for his own label, as well as for fashion designers globally, and has worked regularly in Paris since the mid 1980's. One of his most significant relationships is with the House of Dior, where he has been designing hats for twenty years.
Now that's what you might call arty!
Well that's it for now, I hope you enjoyed the photos. My thanks to my daughter/photographer, "The House of Dior: Seventy Years of Haute Couture" and all the contributors to the book, which I used for reference.
PLEASE NOTE THIS PAGE AND ALL PHOTOS HEREIN ARE COPYRIGHT, SO PLEASE DON'T CLAIM THEM AS YOUR OWN.
