I find it intriguing how a simple name can mean so much to the development of a society and a culture. Dior is one of these specific names that became legendary labels in the world and to which everyone responds when they are mentioned. The exhibition in Paris, ‘Christian Dior, Le couturier du rêve’ (Christian Dior, the fashion designer of dream), is recounting the evolution of a brand that started from a talented man and became one of the most renown luxury name in the world. The exposition reveals to the viewer the inside of the company and shares the major historical keys leading to the success of this legendary fashion emblem. However, when this kind of opportunity is given to a Parisian public and to its tourists keen on being at the heart of fashion, let me tell you that patience is a must. I arrived at 11.30 am (it opens at 11am) and I had to queue for an hour and a half. The inside is not even better since you have to sidle in the middle of a crowd in order to see something. The heat is unbearable in the first rooms to the point of exhaustion. Indeed, my friend almost fainted and we had to evacuate the room… But don’t get me wrong, it is worth the pain. Pick a bottle of water, wear something light or visit it later in the year and be ready to discover the incredible finesse of the exhibition reflecting the work of the brand.
The first rooms are the cultural part of the exposition. It recaps Christian Dior’s life and focuses on his work to build his fashion empire. Each room highlights a specific aspect of his career. We are plunged into Christian Dior’s thoughts, childhood and evolution throughout years with objects from the time, drawings, photographs and many archives. The people who created the exhibition must have tried to create an intimate ambiance by putting their spectator in the dark and to emphasis on the stuff exposed. However, when the rooms are that busy, it becomes unbearable and hard to stay in. It’s a pity when you know that you’re missing on precious aspects of the exposition that are rarely shown to public.
I had the opportunity to weave in and out and was glad I did. In my opinion, the best things to look at are the pictures. They are witnesses of the time and build a historical background to the dresses exposed. You go from the first Dior’s runaway to Christian Dior’s death and its impact on the Parisian Fashion life twhich highlights his increase in power.
‘The creator of dream’ wanted to become at first an artist. He was friend with the surrealists but gave up a few years after his beginning. His sense of creativity is reflected throughout its ability to touch to different forms of arts such as photography, botanic, perfumes… and all of them represented by the most famous stars of their time !
The rooms present the Dior’s specific themes that became fashion statements and related directly to the brand in the world of Fashion. In this sense, there’s a room for each theme: Trianon (inspired by the Versailles’ society of the 18th Century), the gardens and flowers, the different cultures of the world … And here I want to give a shout out to the efforts on the exhibition’s staging. It is just astonishing: a ceiling of flower, several mise-en-scene, a play with videos vs dresses and many more surprises that I will let you discover by yourself.
The second part of the exhibition is more about Dior as a brand than about the character of Christian Dior. Its entrance is the reconstitution of the first boutique in the Avenue Montaigne and it is just spectacular.
The following is getting better in each room. First, you have a room for every designer that followed Christian Dior. Their best pieces are exposed and a text explains their particularity and what they brought to the luxury emblem. While you go out of the room to get into the next one, you can look at photographs of their clothes worn at the time. It is very well realised and always with accuracy in the details. Therefore, it starts with the avant-gardist Yves Saint Laurent with its collection Trapeze in 1957 then with Marc Bohan in 1960 who innovated with the Slim Look; the mini skirt; the pop, folkloric and psychedelic influence but above all, the masculine/feminine suit. After that, there was Gianfranco Ferré in 1989, who gave to Dior an Italian touch in its style by creating big effects with simple forms.
In 1996, John Galliano arrived at the head of Dior with its extravagant touch influenced by the English style with the punks but also with a ‘mix and match’ of different movements. He was also the revolutionary and scandalous image of the brand. He created a perfume called Clochard which means ‘homeless person’ while there was 6 millions of unemployed person at the time in France. He made the apology of the trump inspired by Charlie Chaplin’s style. He use to say ‘It’s better not to have preconceived tastes rather than being stuck with the good or the bad taste…’
The two last recent ones were Raf Simons in 2012 and Maria Grazia Chiuri in 2016. Simons reused the floral theme and emphasized his collection on the Romanticism but also on the importance for the woman to feel confident in her clothes. Maria Grazia Chiuri is the current designer and the first woman at the head of the company. She wishes ‘the new Dior woman to be desirable, fragile but self confident; with an inner strength’. She already marked the brand’s history with her T-shirt ‘We should all be feminist’ inspired by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel, which puts her at the front of the stage as a socially involved designer.
The last rooms are the most impressive. There is one with dresses on the walls creating a enchanting world. In this space, there is also a workshop with two ladies coming from Florence (where they make the bags) and that are showing you how the accessories are made. I was lucky enough to watch how the Lady Di’s bag was constructed. I only saw how they put together the leather to build the handles. It takes a day to make a bag and everything is handmade, hence the price! 
And the icing on the cake: the ball room. You won’t believe it your eyes. Everything is just outstanding. The decoration makes you feel like in a dream. The dresses exposed are the ones that you saw on the most prestigious stars of our time: Rihanna, Emma Stone, Natalie Portman, Nicole Kidman, Marion Cotillard, Brigitte Bardot, Sarah Jessica Parker and many other ones. It highlights the filmography of the company that counts more than a hundred films with noticeable directors such as Luis Bunuel, Jean-Luc Godard, Charlie Chaplin, Francois Truffaut, Costa- Gravas, Claude Lelouch or even Woody Allen. I have to say, this room is the high point of the exposition.
The ‘Christian Dior, couturier du rêve’ is not only an exposition but a show in itself. Everything is organised with detail and sophistication. Nothing is here by chance, everything is put in a specific place for a reason. The effort of decoration and staging stays the peak of the exhibition. The only negative point that could makes you unlike the demonstration would be the amount of people being way over its capacity. So take your time to go see it, you have until the 7th of January 2018. Its success in Paris leads to the opening of The House of Dior: Seventy Years of Haute Couture at the Melbourne’s National Gallery of Victoria in a few days. Hopefully, the other side of the world will feel the same two-hour-dream shared by the company and its exhibition.
