One thing is clear when reading Dior’s comments about this trio of women – they don’t sound like the remarks of a man who, as Chanel put it, “doesn’t know women”. Dior says: “I knew that the presence in my house would inspire me towards creation, as much as by her reactions – and even revolts – against my ideas, as by her agreements.” The friendship between the two was close, and tempestuous.
In the 1954 book Talking about Fashion, Dior says: “Her moods, her extremes of behaviour, her faults, her entrances, her late appearances, her theatricality, her mode of speech, her unorthodox manner of dress, her jewels, in short her presence, bring the touch of absolute elegance so necessary to the fashion house.”Īs Ilya Parkins puts it in her book Poiret, Dior and Schiaparelli: Fashion, Femininity and Modernity, Madame Bricard possessed “an essential, almost inherited, understanding of the grammar of chic as something timeless, removed from the conventional split between designer and their works”. “Her whole life was devoted to her look, and her ideas – she was his confidante.” Bricard, it seems, not only inspired his ideas, but was necessary to the process of creation. His lavish haute-couture gowns were transformative, fairy-tale creations, worn by the most glamorous stars of the time, from Marlene Dietrich, who only wore Dior, to Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth and ballerina Margot Fonteyn.Īs Cullen says: “She was a glamorous Parisienne, and he loved her style.” She would always wear some leopard print, often pearls, and beautiful hats. “He took it to the maximum, and his name became prominent all over the world.” He was a huge cultural and business figure, and even made the cover of Time magazine. The perfumes and boutique products, including underwear and stockings, were also a shrewd idea. His approach and ambition were global: he forged business links not only in New York and London but in Japan, Australia and Venezuela. The launch marked the return of the Parisian fashion industry.”ĭior was a “clever businessman” who brought worldwide cachet to Paris, says Cullen. After the austerity of the war and the boxy silhouettes, Dior introduced a more glamorous look.
Negotiations to establish the house of Dior had begun in 1946 when the world was just coming out of World War Two. “There were huge crowds outside his first show, and Nancy Mitford commented that even the taxi drivers were talking about Dior.
“The buzz was huge,” says Oriole Cullen, curator of a new exhibition at the V&A, Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams, an extended version of an exhibition originally shown at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.
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