Dior

Founded 1946 · Paris, France · Christian Dior

Dior founded his house in 1946 and the following year presented the New Look, which gave European fashion back its waist and its volume after the war. Perfumery was born with the house — Miss Dior dates from 1947, the same year — and today carries much of the business, with Sauvage as the best-selling masculine in the world.

History

Christian Dior opened his house on Avenue Montaigne in 1946 with backing from the industrialist Marcel Boussac, and in February 1947 presented the collection the press christened the New Look: a soft shoulder, a nipped waist and a full skirt, a deliberate extravagance of cloth after years of rationing. Miss Dior came out that same year. After Dior's death in 1957, the house passed through Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano and Raf Simons. In perfumery, J'adore (1999) and Sauvage (2015) are the two modern pillars; Sauvage is, by volume, the best-selling masculine perfume on the planet.

Iconic models

Sauvage (2015)
Bergamot, pepper and ambroxan. The best-selling masculine in the world and the most imitated.
Miss Dior (1947)
From the year of the New Look. A floral chypre, the house's first.
J'adore (1999)
A white floral; the feminine that has carried the house since the turn of the century.
Collection Privée Christian Dior (2004)
Its high perfumery line, separate from the designer catalogue.

Worth knowing

Miss Dior came out in 1947, the year of the New Look and barely months after the house opened. Perfumery was not a later extension of the business: it was born with it.