Christian Dior - fashion designer that revolutionized the fashion industry

Christian Dior ruled French fashion during the 40's and 50's. He not only came up with the New Look that produced the hourglass figure but also introduced a business strategy that, in just 10 years, would establish him on a global scale as the brand for luxury goods, including perfume.

The man that put Paris on the fashion map.

Christian Dior was born in 1905 in Granville on the Normandy coast in France. Dior's greatest love was art and in 1928 opened a small gallery in Paris where the family had moved to some years earlier. However tragedy struck in 1931 with the death of Dior's older brother and mother and the family business folded. Christian spent the next few years selling sketches to the fashion houses.

In 1938 he got work as an assistant to a designer and in the subsequent war years worked for various fashion houses. Finally in 1946 he opened his own fashion house backed by textiles king Marcel Boussac.

Dior's very first collection came out in 1947 and showcased the New Look. It featured soft, rounded shoulders, a cinched waist and full flowing skirts. It was just what women needed after the austerity and hardship of the war years. Dior believed women wanted something new, something traditionally feminine to restore the balance a little after carrying out the traditional men's roles during the war.

The New Look was an immediate success. Orders came from the likes of Rita Hayworth, the ballerina Margot Fonteyn and Dior was even invited to give a private presentation to the British royal family in London. During the 1950's famous clients followed - amongst others, Ava Gardner, Marlene Dietrich, Princess Margaret and the Duchess of Windsor.

Dior had almost single-handedly restored Paris as the capital of the fashion world. He then went on to revolutionize the fashion industry. With his partner, Dior pioneered license agreements in the fashion industry. They realized that the future was in an international market and diverse products, so they opened a fur subsidiary, a ready to wear outlet and the first Christian Dior perfume, Miss Dior. When a US company offered to buy the rights to produce Dior stockings, Dior and his partner refused the payment and negotiated a percentage fee based on the sales generated, thus introducing the royalty payment system to fashion products.

Christian Dior died suddenly in 1957 of a heart attack while undergoing treatment in a spa in Italy. In the following years several renowned designers took over at the House of Dior until 1990 when the luxury goods manufacturer LMVH (Möet Hennessey Luis Viutton) bought it and since then the English designer John Galliano has been the chief designer.