The Dior Museum Paris: Fantasy, Aesthetics, and History by Arielle Garber

Last year, a museum opened in Paris at 11 Rue François 1er that is a time capsule of Parisian chic and aesthetics throughout the ages: the Christian Dior Design Museum, or by its French name, Galerie Dior (The Dior Gallery). 

The gallery displays dozens of couture models from the legendary French designer Christian Dior. Each model was collected from the archives of the fashion house itself or from the estates of wealthy clients who were honored to receive their own dress from the Dior house.

All the models are displayed like candy in a store: arranged by color, shape, and theme in different rooms, representing a different style and a different period in history. Moving from room to room creates an experience that is nothing less than wandering through worlds of fairy tale and fantasy, just like Alice in Wonderland.

In the story, Alice does fall into a winding tunnel on her way to Wonderland, but the entrance to “Dior Galleries"It's actually the opposite experience. Instead of falling down, you ascend a spiral, illuminated staircase, surrounded on all sides by an endless display of miniature models of the brand's designs from every decade. It's like a historical fashion show coming to life before the viewer's eyes.

The sense of magic continues into the first showroom, which is even designed like a fairy forest, where models of dresses made of tulle and delicate muslin are displayed, decorated with flowers, and appear to resemble forest nymphs from Greek mythology.

At every moment I waited for one of the dresses to turn into a real fairy and dance in front of me. Each model tells the history of the fashion house and the story of its transformation into a symbol of the new femininity of France.

Christian Dior – The Beginning

The days were the days of World War II, and the French fashion and art world bowed its head under the Nazi occupation. The queen of French fashion of the pre-war days' Coco Chanel, is forced to close her boutique in Rue Cambon, following the French public's disgust with her connections to Nazi officers. Only legendary French couture designer Lucien Lalong manages to keep his legendary fashion house afloat, but the way he does so is by designing luxury models for the wives of Nazi officers and the French aristocracy. 

But there, in Lalong's studio, work two young designers who dream of a free France and a redefinition of French chic and style. Their names are Pierre Balmain and Christian Dior, and each of them will one day change the face of French fashion for generations to come.

Finally, on February 12, 1947, two years after the end of the war and the liberation of France, Christian Dior launched his first independent collection in his own boutique, in the heart of the prestigious shopping avenue – Avenue Montaigne 30.

The entire collection was a celebration of the end of the war. The designer abandoned the pared-down fabric and minimalism that characterized women's suits during the war years, presenting instead a narrow-waisted silhouette and a knee-length, puffy skirt with a multitude of petticoats that added to the respectable volume. Many of his designs were also adorned with a wide-brimmed hat, which added an uncompromising elegance to Dior's new femininity.

Originally, the collection consisted of two styles that Dior called: Corolle and Huit. But when the editor of the American magazine “Harper’s Bazaar”, Carmel Snow, sat and watched the show, she exclaimed with typical American excitement: “It’s a whole new look!” Christian Dior’s new style has been inscribed in history under the generic name “New Look”.

The “Bar” Suit 1947

The most iconic look of the “New Look” was undoubtedly the “Bar Suit” – a suit that got its name from the bar at the prestigious hotel, the Plaza Athénée, where the designer liked to sit with a glass of wine for his lunches.

It consists of a jacket with padded shoulders and a cinched waist, in a soft ivory color, a black pleated, ankle-length skirt with a lot of volume due to the presence of petticoats, and a little padding on the sides of the thighs. In addition – a wide-brimmed straw hat.

The suit became a hit in women's fashion in the early 1950s, thanks to its combination of a feminine, elegant and sexy cut, with simple and practical colors, and a length that could be worn both day and evening. It's no wonder that it is displayed in a place of honor in the gallery: in the passageway dedicated only to it, at the entrance to the first showroom up the stairs. Like a queen welcoming her visitors.

Periodic effects

Ironically, Dior's "New Look" may have seemed new and revolutionary to the American fashion editor, but its origins were actually very old. The tight waist, the wide skirt held up by padding on the sides of the thighs, and even the flat straw hat were all characteristics of 18th-century French fashion, during the reign of Queen Marie Antoinette. 

At the time, the straw hat was called a “Bergère” (“Bergère” from French: “shepherd”), and although it began on the heads of poor shepherdesses, it soon became popular with noble women, who made it a must-have item at prestigious events. 

Not everyone was enthusiastic about the new style, and Dior’s arch-rival, Coco Chanel, even said in response: “Only a man who has never had relations with women could embalm and stuff them like mummies!” However, the fashion world fell in love with the “new-old” look, and the Dior legacy was born.

18th-century fashion influences continued to dominate Dior's fashion house decades after the legendary designer's death. In 2000, when controversial designer John Galliano became the house's artistic director, his first show was dedicated to Queen Marie Antoinette.

After a brief investigation by the staff, I was disappointed to discover that the fashion house's archive had not allocated the dresses from that mythological show to the gallery, but it is certainly possible to find some of the accessories that Galliano designed especially for his show, such as an embroidered crocodile-skin hat decorated with feathers, a silver-plated comb and pearls, and satin shoes with silver buckles that look as if they were worn to the ball by Cinderella herself.

Another period influence that characterized Christian Dior's designs throughout the 19s was the bustle skirt, as was common in women's fashion in the late XNUMXth century. When visiting the gallery, it is impossible to ignore the designer's love of skirts with many layers of tulle and lots of padding and embellishments in the back.

Housing around the world

Christian Dior passed away in October 1957. His successor and the new artistic director of the fashion house was a promising young man named Yves Saint Laurent.

In contrast to Christian Dior's very French style, Saint Laurent opened the fashion house to influences from around the world. He presented shows in the Far East, South America, and in 1959 even made Dior the first Western fashion house to cross the Iron Curtain and present a show in Moscow.

His travels continued to influence the brand’s designs over the years, and his successors have excelled in designing Spanish flamenco-style dresses, Japanese kimono-style dresses, and structurally designed blouses with a belt that mimics the Japanese “obi” belt, as well as some spectacular African influences. All of the designs can be seen displayed in grandeur in the gallery.

Housing then and now

If there is one item that can be said to be definitely “timeless,” it is the Dior “coat dress.” The dress, which is characterized by the cut and collar of a raincoat, but at the same time also very flattering to the curves of the female body, was launched by Christian Dior himself in 1947 as an item of practical and everyday wear. Over time, the cut was incorporated into evening dresses, and even became a favorite item of his heir, Yves Saint Laurent, who, when he founded his own brand in the XNUMXs, often incorporated it into all his shows.

The coat dress continued to star in the European fashion scene throughout the 1990s, and last July it was resurrected again, thanks to Duchess Meghan Markle.

When Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle arrived last June to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II (who sadly passed away just two months after the celebrations), Meghan stunned fashion critics. When the Duchess stepped out of her carriage at the foot of St. Paul's Cathedral in London wearing a white coat dress and a wide-brimmed straw hat, every fashion blogger and aspiring fashion writer would immediately recognize that the Duchess was dressed head to toe in Dior.

The creation was the result of the collaboration between designer Stephen Jones and current artistic director Maria Grazia Chiuri, and the two proved that the fashion house has never lost its original signature, and yet continues to renew itself every year.

Dior continues to reinvent and redefine French chic by drawing inspiration from ancient sources with modern figures, and an uncompromising combination of classics French Restrained for a new and explosive femininity. Therefore, a visit to the “Dior Galleries” is not only recommended for fashion lovers, but provides a sensory experience of color and sound, and a fascinating lesson in French history and aesthetics for everyone.

Dior Museum – Tickets and Useful Information

Museum address: 11 bis, rue François Ier

Website: https://galeriedior.com

Tickets to the Galeries Dior Museum: Tickets can be purchased On the museum websiteThe ticket gives access to all parts of the exhibition and costs 12 euros. When purchasing the ticket, you will also be asked to choose a date and time of arrival, but you can expect a wait in any case, as the museum is particularly popular these days.

Tickets cannot be canceled or refunded. They must be printed in advance or presented on a mobile screen at the entrance.

Large bags or suitcases are not allowed into the museum – keep this in mind if you are planning a visit there on your last day in Paris.

to purchase tickets