Christian Dior: Rule-Breaking Couture

     Christian Dior is one of the most rule-breaking, creative designers of our time. His collections revamped women's fashion and his impact on the industry still remains to this day. Dior came from wealth and was expected to go on to become a diplomat, yet his draw to the arts was too great to ignore. After studying political science at the University of Paris, he took to creating designs and illustrations, selling them on the streets of Paris before opening his own gallery (Christian Dior, Britannica). 

    Dior was called to service during World War II and kept creating during the war, designing clothes for Nazi wives. After his service, he joined the fashion house of Lucien Lelong. Over time he went on to create the fashion House of Dior in 1946, starting a controversial and creative journey (Christian Dior, Biography). 

    The look that broke the norms of fashion and flipped rules was the "New Look" created in 1947, right after the House of Dior was founded. The look featured a lower hemline, cinched waist, and no stuffed shoulder pads in the jacket. Dior broke the rules and limitations for daytime and night looks. Curvy silhouettes were designated night-time attire, but Dior brought those shaped into daywear. Small shoulders and longer skirts were not the average fashion choice for women and this look caused international controversy. Dior created all the pieces to complete an outfit, hats, gloves, etc.. This "New Look" was a key moment in fashion that sparked a movement for women postwar (Christian Dior's Most Famous Silhouettes in Vogue, Borrelli-Persson, Laird). 

    Dior grabbed inspiration from anything and everything. In a video posted on the Dior YouTube page, it gives the audience a look into the creative process of the designer behind innovative looks. 

He takes inspiration from fabrics, the shape of the model, and all other unconscious inspirations and lets his imagination have "free reign". Improvising with pulling and pinching fabrics till it forms a physical idea. In Week 2, we covered the idea of introspection, talking through a creative process. Dior talks through his thoughts in the video, fussing with accessories to complete the outfit. If something doesn't work with his vision, he talks through redirecting it till it satisfies. Inspiration for other works came to Dior from historical periods, architecture, art, and other designers. In Week 4 when talking about where creative ideas come from with muses, his mother was a muse for the couture (The World of Monsieur Dior in His Own Words, YouTube).

    Christian Dior was a very superstitious man, always accompanied by a wooden cane to be touching wood at all times, and carried various lucky charms in his pockets. The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Ruben talks about rules, noting that "Rules, by their nature, are limitations...Rules direct us to average behaviors. If we're aiming to create exceptional works, most rules don't apply. Average is nothing to aspire to." Superstitions limit the mind to abide by their supernatural nature. The discomfort in battling the rules of superstitions and of fashion doesn't stop Dior from creating immaculate works. One wouldn't think that he would cause controversy and unleash such creativity, his collections are nothing close to average. Dior broke the rules of women's couture.

“Christian Dior.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 16 Feb. 2024, www.britannica.com/biography/Christian-Dior-French-designer.

Borrelli-Persson, Laird. “Christian Dior’s Most Famous Silhouettes in Vogue.” Vogue, Vogue, 30 Sept. 2016, www.vogue.com/article/christian-dior-archival-looks.

“Christian Dior - Life, Fashion & Career.” Biography.Com, A&E; Television Networks, 2021, www.biography.com/history-culture/christian-dior.

“The World of Monsieur Dior in His Own Words.” YouTube, YouTube, 23 Apr. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZESWE3myVLk.

Rubin, Rick, and Neil Strauss. The Creative Act: A Way of Being. Canongate, 2023.