The name Christian Dior is legendary in the world of fashion and style. Few other names of the 1900's have such
cachet and dominance.
The House of Dior was founded by it's namesake, Christian Dior, in the year 1947, and within ten years, he had established salons in fifteen countries, and employed over 2000 people.
Dior was initially famous for his "New Look of 1947" (consisting of elegant narrow shoulders, modern constricted waist, emphasized bust, and long, wide skirts). The House of Dior invented the short, waistless sack dress in the early '50s, and in 1956, introduced the enduring classic A-line dress.
In retrospect, the signature touches of this master's design work are the fine cut of his suits, featuring inlays and hidden seams, his classic and still sought-after white embroidered guipure (mixed lace) coats, his swallow-tail jacket trains, and his sumptuous velvet evening gowns.
Dior was born in 1905 in Granville, and was schooled for the diplomatic service at the École des Sciences Politiques in Paris. He passed away in 1957 at the young age of 52. After his passing, "Christian the Second" Yves Saint-Laurent assumed artistic directorship of the house for a short time.
In 1987 the House was acquired by the massive luxury goods conglomerate LVMH.
At the time of writing, the current artistic director of the House is Gianfranco Ferré.
research materials include encyclopedia.com, encarta.com, and the French ministère des Affaires étrangères