The True and Compelling Story of Catherine Dior

Maisie Williams as Catherine Dior in 'The New Look.'

Catherine Dior may not be as widely known as her French couturier brother Christian Dior, but Apple TV+'s The New Look will change that. Maisie Williams transformed into the fashion designer's beloved sister for the streamer's new historical drama.

Series creator Todd A. Kessler has said that Williams' "devotion to embodying Christian Dior's younger sister Catherine, is a moment of transformation that I will never forget: when I first saw Maisie in hair, makeup, wardrobe, Catherine was with us... that rare combination of a person possessing tremendous conviction and even greater sensitivity, a French resistance fighter up against the Nazis who put her life on the line to stand for what she believed was right. Catherine also inspired her older brother to live and create from his heart."

So, just who was the World War II heroine? Continue reading to learn about Christian Dior's sister Catherine Dior.

Related: Everything to Know About Apple TV+'s The New Look

Who was Catherine Dior?

Born on Aug. 2, 1917, Catherine was the youngest of the five Dior siblings, whom Christian forged a special bond with, per La Galerie Dior. Justine Picardie wrote in the book Miss Dior: A Story of Courage and Couture, "Despite the age difference of twelve years, Christian and Catherine remained the closest of the Dior siblings, continuing to share the love of flowers and gardening that they had inherited from their mother, and a mutual passion for art and music."

Was Catherine Dior a French Resistance fighter?

Catherine was a French Resistance fighter during World War II. According to Justine, "A dossier in the military files of the Resistance notes that Catherine performed a vital role in the operation of the Cannes office, not only by transporting reports for Hervé des Charbonneries and Jacques de Prévaux, but also hiding this incriminating material from the Gestapo during a raid, before delivering it safely to another key member of the F2 network, thereby proving her 'composure, decisiveness, and sang-froid. Other Resistance archives show that she worked closely with one of the original leaders of the network, Gilbert Foury, covering the entire Mediterranean zone." She and her colleagues are also said to have undertook missions to provide "vital intelligence for the Allied invasion of France — D-Day."

When was Catherine Dior arrested?

Yes. She was arrested in July of 1944. In Miss Dior: A Story of Courage and Couture, Justine wrote that Catherine was arrested on the Place du Trocadéro in Paris by a group of four armed men and was driven to Rue de la Pompe, where she was tortured. Describing her experience in a witness statement, Catherine said, via Miss Dior: A Story of Courage and Couture: "When I arrived in the building, I was immediately subjected to an interrogation on my activities for the Resistance and also on the identity of the chiefs under whose orders I was working. This interrogation was accompanied by brutalities: punching, kicking, slapping, etc. When the interrogation proved unsatisfactory, I was taken to the bathroom. They undressed me, bound my hands and plunged me into the water, where I remained for about three-quarters of an hour."

After being transported to a prison at Fresnes, Catherine returned to Rue de la Pompe. There she was tortured again and "submerged in icy water for several hours, until she came close to drowning."

Catherine's godson Nicolas Crespelle recalled to the Miss Dior: A Story of Courage and Couture author that his mother had told him that Catherine could not have a child of her own because of what happened to her at Rue de la Pompe.

Justine noted in her book that "despite suffering a series of violent assaults, such as to make it almost impossible to think clearly, she was not broken by the prolonged interrogations. And Catherine's responses to the barrage of questioning evidently protected her colleagues in the Resistance, as well as her brother, for none of them were arrested."

Did Catherine Dior go to a concentration camp?

Catherine was deported to Ravensbrück. She arrived at the concentration camp on Aug. 22, 1954, according to Miss Dior: A Story of Courage and Couture. Per Justine, Catherine "would rarely speak about what she had endured at Ravensbrück," but her godson Nicolas recalled his godmother telling him "that she would never fall to the ground to pick up a piece of food that an SS guard had thrown there. 'She said that if you did that, then your life was over...'"

Justine reported that in September 1944, Catherine was set to Torgau to work at a munitions factory, and then in October of 1944 she was sent to another sub-camp called Abteroda and that records show she arrived at another "satellite camp" in Markkleeberg in late February 1945.

On the morning of April 13, 1945, SS officers at Markkleeberg are said to have received orders to evacuate the prisoners, though evacuation is said to have been a "euphemism for the death march." Catherine "managed to escape from the death march" on April 21, 1945 in Dresden and was liberated by Soviet troops.

Did Christian Dior try to find his sister?

In Christian's autobiography Dior by Dior, the fashion designer shared that after Cathrine was deported in 1944, "I exhausted myself in vain in trying to trace her."

When did Catherine Dior reunite with Christian Dior?

Catherine is said to have arrived back in Paris in May 1945. According to Justine, Christian met his sister at the train station, "but such was her emaciation that he did not recognise her at first."

Did Christian Dior name his perfume after his sister Catherine Dior?

Launched in 1947, Christian’s first perfume Miss Dior was a tribute to his sister Catherine. “Her unconditional love for flowers led to her rebirth. Catherine became a 'flower representative,' delivering flowers in Paris and sending fresh flowers all over the world,” per La Galerie Dior.

The fashion designer also had designs named “Miss Dior” in his collections, but the one in his "Spring-Summer 1949 collection was a true tribute to Catherine Dior's passion for flowers.”

When did Catherine Dior die?

Catherine passed away on June 17, 2008, at the age of 90.

Next, Everything to Know About Apple TV+'s The New Look