The V&A unveils its next grand fashion master show with biggest ever exhibition dedicated to Christian Dior

Victoria Moss
Updated
Christian Dior with model Lucky, circa 1955.  - Courtesy of Christian Dior. 
Christian Dior with model Lucky, circa 1955. - Courtesy of Christian Dior.

Hot on the back off the newly opened Frida Kahlo extravaganza, the V&A has announced its follow up blockbuster: it will host the largest ever Christian Dior exhibition in the UK in February, running until July 2019.

Entitled Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams the exhibition is ostensibly an import of the Christian Dior: Couturier du Rêve held at Paris’s Musée des Arts Décoratifs last year to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the Parisian Haute Couture House.

The V&A will include a new section pertinent to “New Look” creator Dior’s well documented Anglophilia. The designer is reported as  having enthused, “there  is no other  country in the  world, besides my  own, whose way of life  I like so much. I love English traditions, English  politeness, English architecture. I even love English cooking”.

Princess Margaret presents Christian Dior with a scroll entitling him to Honorary Life Membership of the British Red Cross after the presentation of his winter collection at Blenheim Palace on 3rd November 1954.  - Credit: Popperfoto/Getty. 
Princess Margaret presents Christian Dior with a scroll entitling him to Honorary Life Membership of the British Red Cross after the presentation of his winter collection at Blenheim Palace on 3rd November 1954. Credit: Popperfoto/Getty.

He hosted fashion shows at London’s Savoy Hotel and Blenheim Palace; he counted Princess Margaret, Nancy Mitford and Margot Fonteyn as clients.

The exhibition will include the Dior dress worn by Princess Margaret at her 21st birthday party (on loan from  the Museum of London) alongside over 500 objects, ranging from rare Haute Couture pieces to accessories, films, perfume, make up, magazines and Christian Dior’s personal possessions.  It also will feature the work of the subsequent six artistic directors who have followed in his stead after his death in 1957: Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfrance Ferré, John Galliano, Raf Simons and current incumbent, Maria Grazia Chiuri.

Oriole Cullen, Fashion  and Textiles Curator  at the V&A, commented:  “In 1947, Christian Dior  changed the face of fashion with his ‘New Look’, which redefined  the female silhouette and reinvigorated the  post-War Parisian fashion industry. The V&A recognised  Dior’s important contribution to design history early-on in  his career, acquiring his sketches and garments from the fifties onwards.  

"The influence  of Christian Dior’s  design was all- pervasive  and helped to define an era.  In their own individual ways, each  of the House’s successive artistic directors have  referenced and reinterpreted Dior’s own designs and  continued the legacy of the founder, ensuring that the House of Christian Dior is at the forefront of fashion  today. More than seventy years after its founding, the V&A’s exhibition  will celebrate the enduring influence of the House of Dior and uncover Dior’s relationship  with Britain.”

Christian Dior with model Sylvie, circa 1948.  - Credit: Courtesy of Christian Dior. 
Christian Dior with model Sylvie, circa 1948. Credit: Courtesy of Christian Dior.

This will be the V&A’s most ambitious and biggest display since the record breaking  blockbuster (with almost half a million visitors) Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, which was an updated import from New York’s Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute. The museum is applying the same strategy by picking up an existing show and expanding it by adding a Brit-twist (or London-centric one in the case of McQueen).

The dreamiest Dior creations of all time

Might it be as spectacular as Savage Beauty? It will “bring to life” Dior’s UK fashion shows, such as the Princess Margaret attended Blenheim Palace spectacular of 1954, which offers the chance for an extravagant dose of glamour.

It is the second of the museum's  explorations of the grand fashion masters of the Twentieth century, following on from last year’s Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion, which profiled the extraordinary influence and skill of the Spanish couturier.

Sketch by Christian Dior for model Londres, autumn winter 1950 Haute Couture collection.  - Credit: Courtesy of Christian Dior. /Courtesy of Christian Dior. 
Sketch by Christian Dior for model Londres, autumn winter 1950 Haute Couture collection. Credit: Courtesy of Christian Dior. /Courtesy of Christian Dior.

Previous to this Dior retrospective, the Met’s Costume Institute held its own homage in 1996 - with its opening night gala attended by Princess Diana (wearing Dior).

Yves Saint Laurent’s reputation has been cemented with the establishing of museums in his name in both Paris and Marrakech.

An icon in waiting to be profiled in such a way is Hubert de Givenchy, who died earlier this year. His legacy was celebrated by current artistic director Clare Waight Keller at her Haute Couture show in Paris on Sunday night. Given the renewed interest in the House, following Waight Keller’s appointment and the high profile patronage of the Duchess of Sussex, it will be interesting to see if an exhibition on this contemporary of Dior et al is forthcoming. Something that perhaps the Met and V&A might currently be debating between themselves.

The exhibition Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams runs from 2 February – 14 July 2019. Tickets will go on sale in Autumn 2018.