All Things Fiber - The Christian Dior Exhibit at DMA

Back in May, Mister and I received an invitation (cocktail attire and all) to the Opening Celebration of the Dior Exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art.  Things being what they normally are, we were in Montana for it and missed out.  However, today I am at least going to see the exhibit.  My daughter, Rhiana, and granddaughters, Elena and Malea, are huge fashion buffs so I have great company to share in this event.

I took A LOT of pictures so that I could share with friends who would likely not have the opportunity to see this in person.   I kept the event brochure so that I can share information with y'all as well.  It's going to be like your own personal showing -- how's that sound?

"For the past seventy years, the fashion house founded by christian Dior in 1947 has been the ultimate symbol of Parisian haute couture.  With his first collection, the revolutionary New Look, Dior established the iconic silhouette of the postwar era.  His unique style, inspired by art and culture, celebrated the triumphant return of femininity.  His vision of clothing based on strong, architectural lives resonated in a world rebuilding itself from the ground up after the devastation of World War II.

A pioneer in the globalization of fashion, Dior built an empire that reached around the world.  Six designers have succeeded him since his death in 1957:  Yves /Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferre, John Galliano, Raf Simons, and the current artistic director, Maria Grazia Chiuri.  Each has added his or her own personal stamp while paying homage to Christian Dior's legacy of original and refined fashion that wants above all 'to make women happier and more beautiful'."



Commentary continues between next two pictures - both of which showcase the "New Look."

"On February 12, 1947, Christian Dior presented his first collection.  'It's quite a revolution, dear Christian.  Your dresses have such a new look!' declared Harper's Bazaar editor Carmel Snow.  Dubbed the 'New Look' by the press, it created a worldwide sensation.  In reaction to the boxy, masculine silhouettes of wartime fashion, Dior reconstructed the female figure as a succession of curves, with rounded shoulders, a generous bust, a tiny waist, and accentuated hips.  The collection's two main lines, the Corolle (Flower Shape), with it's full skirt, seen above, and the En 8 (Figure 8), with it's narrow skirt, seen below, set the stage for fashion in the 1950s.  The Bar suit (featured here with the nipped white jacket) became the manifesto of a new style that Dior called the 'flower-woman'."

"Not everyone applauded this pioneering vision.  In France, England, and the United States, protesters denounced its wasteful luxury in a period still marked by wartime austerity.  The New Look was also condemned for its sensual silhouette and, at the same time, for covering up the female leg with long skirts.  Despite these criticisms, the style prevailed because it responded to a longing for bygone glamour.  The New Look has been a source of inspiration for Dior's successors ever since."

The next room I enter is called the "Office of Dreams." 

"From his studio, which he called the 'office of dreams', Christian Dior managed his fashion house like an orchestra conductor.  Before every collection, Dior drew hundreds of sketches, which were transformed into toiles, or mock-ups in plain cotton muslin, and shown to Dior and his core team on perfectly proportioned models. . . .  Once approved, the toile, laid out flat, became a pattern for a prototype cut from fabric chosen by the designer.  During the final fittings, trim and accessories were chosen, and the order in which the dresses would appear in the show was determined. "

I was stunned to read this as I just thought it was a white collection.  A couple of pieces grabbed my attention more than others and I wanted to read up a bit more on them.  On the left is Toile for a Dress -- Look 70.  This one is from the Fall-Winter 2018 collection.  The one on the right is Toile for a Dress and Top - Look 54 and is part of the Spring-Summer 2015 collection.

From this toile stage, we move into the Creative Directors first room.  Starting with Christian Dior from 1947-1957 we can see items from his work and some of the process he went through.

"Christian Dior (1905-1957) dreamed of being an architect or a composer and was surprised when a fortune-teller predicted that he would make many ocean crossings.  Born into a prominent family, studied political science before becoming a director of two successive art galleries in Paris from 1928 to 1934.  He and his partners, Jacques Bonjean and then Pierre Colle, showed the work of famous artists including Picasso, Braque, Miro, and Matisse, as well as up-and-coming artists Alberto Giacometti, Alexander Calder, and Jean Cocteau.  In 1933, his gallery organized a Surrealism exhibition that featured Salvador Dali, Marcel Duchamp, MAN Ray and Max Ernst, among others.

The Great Depression devastated the family fortune, and in 1935 Dior took up fashion illustration to support himself.  His success led to design positions with major couturiers Robert Piguet and Lucien Lelong, and in 1946 textile magnate Marcel Boussac provided the financial backing that enabled him to open his own couture house.  In the prime of his career, Christian Dior died suddenly on October 24, 1957."

Again, my eyes are drawn to a similar type dress.  As I'm staring at it, the docent nearby comments to me that she has noticed more people stop to look at this dress than any others in the room.  It is called Cherie, is constructed of taffeta and presented in the Spring-Summer 1947 Corolle line.

"Yves Saint Laurent (1936-2008) was just nineteen when Christian Dior hired him as an assistant in 1955.  After the designer's unexpected death of a heart attach at age 52 in 1957, and despite Dior having designated Saint Laurent as his successor, the company's management hesitated to entrust him with the leadership of the House of Dior, now an empire accounting for more than half of French haute couture exports.  But the success of the young designer's first Dior collection in 1958 reassured them.  Its theme, Trapeze, marked an aesthetic break from the fifties.  The trapezoidal silhouette of the dresses liberated the female body from the constraints of fitted cuts and anticipated the free spirit of the sixties.  Fashion's 'Little Prince' became its new hero.

"In July 1960, Saint Laurent's 'Beatnik' collection referenced street styles, pop culture, and Hollywood films.  The Chicago ensemble took its cue from the rebel biker immortalized by Marion Brando in The Wild One.  Disoriented by its radicalism, the house's clientele didn't respond to the collection.  Saint Laurent left Dior and , with Pierre Berge, founded his own couture house in 1961.

Choosing one here to spotlight was a bit harder for me, but this red one seems to speak out.  It is Nuit de Grenade from the Fall-Winter 1959-1960 collection.  It is made with a printed taffeta.

This photo from the wall shows the sketches and fabric choices of both Saint Laurent and the next director, Marc Bohan.

"Trained in the great Parisian fashion houses of Robert Piguet and Jean Patou, Marc Bohan, (born 1926) shared Christian Dior's classical references to the tradition of haute couture, such as sophisticated cuts, fabrics, and adornments.  After joining Dior as artistic director of the London branch in 1958, he was appointed the lead the house in 1960.  His first Dior collection, dubbed the 'Slim Look' for its slender and youthful silhouette, captured the essence of the sixties and was enthusiastically received.  Clients adored Bohan's nods to pop, folkloric, and psychedelic trends.  In the 1980s, Bohan expressed the new status of the modern career woman in a suit with a pencil skirt, belted waist, and padded shoulders.  He drew inspiration from the art world, especially American Abstract Expressionism and notably Jackson Pollock's drip paintings, exemplified by the artist's early masterpiece Cathedral.  In Bohan's 29 years at the help of Dior, he saw himself as the guardian of classic elegance, both understated and in step with the times.  He dressed Princess Grace of Monaco and her daughters, Caroline and Stephanie, and accompanied them to social events.  Exclusive fabrics, subtle colors, embroidery, and exceptional fit were the hallmarks of his style."

The Jackson Pollock on the wall naturally took my eyes to the dress I found liking the most.  Do you see the 60's everywhere here?  This dress is Look 81, released Fall-Winter 1986 and created from a printed faille.

"The appointment of Gianfranco Ferre (1944-2007) as artistic director of the House of Dior took the fashion world by surprise:  for the first time, a non-French designer was entering the high temple of Parisian haute couture.  A product of upper-class Milanese society, Ferre brought Italian extravagance to Dior.  He combined a taste for clean lines with an innate feeling for the ornate 17th-century Baroque architecture of his hometown and of his property on Lake Como in Italy.  References to Cezanne, Picasso, Miro, Braque, Leger, and the Italian artists Lucio Fontana and Giorgio Morandi are plentiful in his rich palette of motifs, textures, and ornamentation."

"Ferre's arrival at Dior in 1989 coincided with a revival of haute couture, which had been overshadowed in the 1970s by the emergence of pret-a-porter, or ready-to-wear.  Many of the couture's craftspeople and suppliers had disappeared over the previous decades, and the press now celebrated the survivors as 'masters in the shadows.'  Ferre gave their work pride of place in his spectacular, richly embellished collections."

Elegance draws my attention every time. It's true and this one screams it at me.  Glory is from the Fall-Winter 1993, Images in the Mirror, collection and has velvet, lace, and tulle as part of it's construction.  Oooooh, I want to touch it so badly.

Onto room two for the Creative Directors -

"In 1997, the House of Dior boldly appointed the eccentric figure of British fashion, John Galliano (born 1960), to take the helm.  To those who criticized his outrageousness, Galliano replied, 'Better to have no taste at all than to be limited by good or bad taste.'  The Gibraltar-born designer surprised many of his critics by fusing the excellence of traditional couture with his own boundless imagination."

"Before each collection, Galliano visited other countries and filled scrapbooks with objects, photos, and collages from his travels.  Ideas emerged from a mix of inspirations across time and space.  The extraordinary lives of women such as Austria's Empress Elisabeth (nicknamed 'Sisi') and eccentric Italian heiress Luisa Casati generated storylines for his collections.  Arturo Martini's portrait of Casati as a Renaissance soldier-prince in a costume by Leon Bakst provided the impetus for Galliano's glittering fantasy armor.  He achieved rock-star status at Dior, where his flamboyant appearances became the eagerly awaited climax to every show.  Departing from the House of Dior amid controversy in 2011, Galliano represented an era of unparalleled creative excess."

Not a fan --- I couldn't even find one to highlight.  Moving on.

"Trained in industrial and furniture design, Raf Simons (born 1968) was preceded by his reputation as a master of minimalism when he arrived as artistic designer of Dior in 2012.  Instead, loyal to the heritage of the house, he revisited Dior's romanticism and love of nature.  He transformed the curves of the New Look into sculptural silhouettes, make modern through their way of freeing the body of constraints.  The Bar suit resurfaced in a tuxedo version, announcing the return of a masculine-feminine trend."

"Simons was uninterested in the celebrity culture of fashion.  'I want to get away from couture just being done for a picture or for a single moment on the red carpet,' he said.  The architecture of the garments took center stage, dramatized by Simons's signature color blocks and punctuated by delicate embroidery.  He drew inspiration from great moments in art history;  Flemish painting, Impressionism, Pointillism, abstract art, and mid-century modernism.  In an exemplary collaboration with American artist Sterling Ruby for the Fall-Winter 2012 collection, Simons used  chine, a complex 18th-century process of dyeing individual threads, to produce fabrics based on Ruby's paintings."

Soooo, it's become obvious to me what lines I like.  Notice how he went back and yet it looks like the toille I chose that didn't make an appearance until 2018.  Hmmmmn.  At any rate, this is Look 31, a 3/4 length duchess satin evening gown with Sterling Ruby print.

And we are now at the present.

"Born and educated in Rome, Maria Grazia Chiuri (born 1964) is the first woman to head the House of Dior.  She made headlines around the world and established herself as an activist designer with the slogans incorporated into her first pret-a-porter collection, notably, 'We should all be feminists,' from the title of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's 2014 essay.  The new Dior woman, she said, would be 'desirable, fragile, but sure of herself, with a real inner strength.'"

"Her debut Spring-Summer 2017 collection, a modern fairytale presented in an enchanted, labyrinthine garden, evoked the passage of the seasons and the metaphor of the 'flower-woman' dear to Christian Dior.  Her second show revisited the 1947 New Look through the lens of an imaginary voyage around the world.  The Spring-Summer 2018 show explored the roots of Surrealism, with a focus on American photographer Man Ray and the female Surrealist Leonora Carrington, while Fall-Winter 2018 was devoted to the skills of the atelier.  her vision of haute couture, she says, is one of 'timelessness, which was central for Dior and keeps couture wearable.  It's important to me to create a dream, while also remaining realistic.'"

Roncier de mures is divine.  Period.  I love everything about it.  Well, except the headdress.  Not gonna do that.  It was part of the Spring-Simmer 2017 collection and is an embroidered tulle and crepe Georgette ball gown.  Nice.

Wow ---- We've only done three rooms.  Oh my.  As we round the next corner into From Paris to the World, a long mirror presents a chance for a group photo.  (The first one is cropped.)

As we enter this room -- instructions are given again.  They really must deal with clumsy people here as we are constantly reminded to not trip over things.

In we go -   WOW -- This is crazy cool.

"Christian Dior's travels informed his collections.  He made frequent trips to England as a young man, and in 1931 he toured Russia with a group of young aficionados of revolutionary architecture.  Special collections were created for different markets in Europe, the United States, North Africa, and Asia.  In 1959, Princess Michiko of Japan commissioned the House of Dior to design three dresses incorporating Japanese influences for her wedding.  For Dior's successors, world art and culltures have been an endless source of inspiration.  References range widely:  Seville and the Spain of Goya, the monuments of Paris, England and fox hunting, the Japanese kimono and cherry blossoms, sumptuous Chinese silks, the art of Africa's Maasai people, ancient Egypt, the skyscrapers of New York, the Madonnas of Latin American churches, and the colorful traditional clothing of Peru and Mexico."

I'll just share a couple that pull me in - Porto Rico from the Fall-winter 1954 H line.  Shadow printed silk satin short evening dress.

This one is for friends Meri and Gilley ---- Debra (funny, huh?) is from Fall-Winter 2000 and is an embroidered chiffon dress worn with an embroidered tulle bodysuit.

This wall!!!!!  I love every single thing about it.  Elegance and beauty as I see it.  This is Ladies in Dior.  "Women adopted the Dior style from the moment it debuted, although few could afford haute couture.  The most enthusiastic were American socialites and performers.  One client, Elizabeth Firestone, selected a complete wardrobe every season, but had the color of the outfits changed to her favorite shade, blue.  Grace Kelly dressed in Dior for the announcement of her engagement to Prince Rainier of Monaco and remained loyal to the label for her day and evening outfits.  Actresses maria Felix and Marlene Dietrich opted for sophisticated styles that signaled their star status.  Josephine Baker, a sensation in Paris from the 1920s, favored Dior's more extravagant creations, like the strapless Meixque gown with its gold-sequined petals.  Marilyn Monroe appeared in a black backless Dior dress in her final photo shoot.  Today the red carpet has become a substitute for the catwalk, where celebrities like Charlize Theron, Jennifer Lawrence, Natalie Portman, Rihanna, and Lady Gaga help carry on the wish of Christian Dior, who said, 'My dresses make a princess of every woman.'"

Down the other side of the great room --- Cour d'Amadou from the Fall-Winter 1995 Tribute to Paul Cezanne collection.  It is a long embroidered tartan tulle and taffeta evening gown with tartan tulle scarf.

So, so wonderful.  Bengale is an embroidered organza blouse and long skirt in painted chiffon with tulle kick pleats from the Fall-Winter 1994 Winter in an Extraordinary Forest collection.

Check out the whole look on this next one.  Not a dress for sitting.  It is Kusudi from spring-Summer 1997 and is a long mermaid-line satin crepe and lace dress with a beaded bodice inspired by Maasai culture.

The last one I'll share in this room -- Look 14 is from Spring-Summer 2004 and is embroidered with rhinestones.  Such a lot of work, oh my.

How about Splendors of the 18th Century?  Purple, Lavender, oh my heart. 

"After the dark years of World War II, Christian Dior wanted to bring the flamboyance of 18th-century France into modern life.  He reached back to memories of his idyllic childhood in Paris and the seaside town of Granville, where the family homes were decorated in the Neoclassical style.  In the mansion at 30 Avenue Montaigne, which became the fashion house's address, Dior asked artist Victor Grandpierre to create an airy, luminous, and elegant interior inspired by the building's 18th-century facade.  Grandpierre furnished the house with Louis XV sofas and Louis XVI medallion chairs, elaborate chandeliers and candelabras, frames topped with bows, and gray-and-white wood paneling.  Dior often has his dresses photographed at the palaces of the former kinds of France in Versailles.  Dior's successors have continued to borrow from the 1700s,  finding inspiration in sumptuous court dresses with corsets and side hoops, ornate open robes, and the simple frocks in which Queen Marie Antoinette played shepherdess."

 So simple and yet so elegant.  Look 04 from Fall-Winter 2014 is an embroidered silk faconne dress.

There's more?  Goodness --- we are off to the Legendary Photographs and Total Look room.  But first, I'll educate you against your will a bit more.  "In 1947 Christian Dior came to Dallas to accept the prestigious Neiman Marcus Award for his distinguished contribution to fashion.  (Yves Saint Laurent received this same award in 1958 while at the House of Dior).  Although Dior was well traveled in Europe, this was the couturier's first intercontinental voyage.  'To reach Dallas, Texas, I had to cross the ocean and enter the New World,' he reacalled in his 1957 autobiography.  Journalists reported on the visiting fashion celebrity and his sensational New Look.  Dior's brief time in Dallas was filled with fanfare - the award ceremony took place in the central hall of the Neiman Marcus store with thousands of people in the audience.  The visit sparked a lifelong friendship between Dior and Stanley Marcus.  Marcus, an amateur photographer and major supporter of the Dallas Museum of Art, captured moments with the designer relaxing at home.  Their camaraderie resulted in Dallas hosting the only American show of Dior's 1954 H line collection."

I was not able to take any photos of the photos, but here are a couple from the Total Look.

"From hats and shoes to makeup and perfume, Christian Dior offered women a 'total look.'  He expanded his business to an unprecedented level, licensing specialized companies to manufacture products under the fashion house's control.  Dior wanted 'a woman to be able to leave the boutique dressed (by Dior) from head to toe, even carrying a present for her husband in her hand.'  A selection of lipsticks provided matching lip color for every dress.  Shoes and jewelry were created in collaboration with the very best designers and artisans.  The same spirit extended to Dior's packaging and display.  These items all mirrored the house's iconic palette, dominated by pink, the color of youth and happiness, and red, the color of life, as exemplified by the show-stopping dresses known as 'Trafalgars,' made to astonish audiences halfway through a presentation.  With his total look, Dior pioneered the globalization and branding that sill characterize the world of fashion today."

Up close --- simply fabulous.

At last we have reached the last room.  This truly is a great exhibit.  Fields of Flowers opens to a bright, lovely room. 

"'After woman, flowers are the most divine creations,' said Christian Dior, whose love of beautiful dresses was equaled only by his passion for gardening.  AS a child, he would study seed catalogs and delighted in planning the flowerbeds with his mother at their seaside home in Granville.  One of his many lucky charms, lily of the valley became his signature flower.  The painting of the impressionists, especially Monet, inspired floral embroideries reminiscent of armfuls of meadow flowers.  The vibrant surfaces of Impressionist canvases, evocative of the effects of light, became a multitude of layered petals in the incredible Miss Dior dresses in this room.  Like Money in Giverny, Dior designed the garden spaces around his homes as retreats conducive to creativity. 

"Dior designers Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferre, and John Galliano, all avid gardeners, often embellished their dresses with floral motifs.  For his first collection in 2012, Raf Simons covered the walls of a Paris mansion with thousands of fresh flowers  Today, Maria Grazia Chiuri draws inspiration from the embroideries of christian Dior's era, or creates scatterings of hand-dyed petals tha suggest the fragile beauty of pressed flowers.

Okay, just a few that I love.  Miss Dior is from Spring-Summer 1949.  Yep, back in the beginning.  It is fromthe Trompe-l'oeil line and is a silk evening dress embroidered with flowers.  Embroidered!!  They are not just sewn on.  Wowsers.

Abricotine (I hear apricot when I say it out loud) is from the Spring-Summer 1959  Longue line from printed faille.

Ermite du gazon from Spring-Summer 1996 In Christian Dior's Garden collection.  It is printed chiffon embroidered with grass stalks.  Fun and funky.

And that's it.  As we are leaving, I spot this and have to smile.  I kind of like dresses to the floor but not as the only option.  Thanks for stopping into the blog and I hope you enjoyed the post.  I learned a ton and would not hesitate to return to the show if I get a chance.