Dior
Christian Dior SE, commonly known as Dior, is a French multinational luxury goods company that is controlled and chaired by Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH., Dior controlled around 42% of the shares and 57% of the voting rights of LVMH. In addition, the Arnault family held a further 7% of the shares and 8% of the voting rights of LVMH as of that date.
The original fashion house was founded by French designer Christian Dior in 1946 to make haute couture items. Clothing is now produced by Christian Dior Couture, which is a subsidiary of LVMH, whereas Christian Dior SE is a holding company that controls LVMH. Bernard Arnault's daughter, Delphine Arnault, has been the CEO of Christian Dior Couture since February 2023. Bernard Arnault's eldest son, Antoine Arnault, is the CEO of Christian Dior SE. In August 2025, Dior opened its first permanent spa in the United States, housed in its newly renovated House of Dior flagship on Madison Avenue in New York City; designed by Peter Marino, the spa offers personalized skincare diagnostics and advanced treatments such as cryotherapy, microdermabrasion, and LED therapy
History
Founding
The House of Dior was established on 16 December 1946 at 30 Avenue Montaigne in Paris. However, the current Dior company celebrates 1947 as the opening year. Christian Dior was financially backed by Marcel Boussac, a wealthy businessman. Boussac had originally invited Dior to design for Philippe et Gaston, but Dior refused, wishing to make a fresh start under his own name rather than reviving an old brand. The new couture house became part of "a vertically integrated textile business" already operated by Boussac. Its capital was at FFr 6 million and workforce at 80 employees. Although the company was largely a vanity project for Boussac, it was a majority-owned affiliate of Boussac Saint-Frères S.A. Nevertheless, Dior was allowed a then-unusual great part in his namesake label despite Boussac's reputation as a "control freak". Dior's creativity also negotiated him a good salary.""New Look"
On 12 February 1947, Christian Dior launched his first fashion collection for Spring–Summer 1947. The show of "90 models of his first collection on six mannequins" was presented in the salons of the company's headquarters at 30 Avenue Montaigne. Originally, the two lines were named "Corolle" and "Huit". However, the new collection went down in fashion history as the "New Look" after the editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar Carmel Snow exclaimed, "It's such a new look!" The New Look was a revolutionary era for women at the end of the 1940s. When the collection was presented, the editor-in-chief also showed appreciation by saying; "It's quite a revolution, dear Christian!" The debut collection of Christian Dior is credited with having revived the fashion industry of France. Along with that, the New Look brought back the spirit of haute couture in France as it was considered glamorous and young-looking. "We were witness to a revolution in fashion and to a revolution in showing fashion as well."The silhouette was characterized by a small, nipped-in waist and a full skirt falling below mid-calf length, which emphasized the bust and hips, as epitomized by the "Bar" suit from the first collection. The Bar suit was a contribution from the head of Dior's tailoring atelier, a young Pierre Cardin, who was employed by the house from 1947 to 1949. The collection overall showcased more stereotypically feminine designs in contrast to the popular fashions of wartime, with full skirts, tight waists, and soft shoulders. Dior retained some of the masculine aspects, as they continued to hold popularity through the early 1940s, but he also wanted to include more feminine style.
The "New Look" became extremely popular, its full-skirted silhouette influencing other fashion designers well into the 1950s, and Dior gained a number of prominent clients from Hollywood, the United States, and the European aristocracy. As a result, Paris, which had fallen from its position as the capital of the fashion world after World War II, regained its preeminence. The New Look was welcomed in western Europe as a refreshing antidote to the austerity of wartime and de-feminizing uniforms, and was embraced by stylish women such as Princess Margaret in the UK. According to Harold Koda, Dior credited Charles James with inspiring The New Look. Dior's designs from the "New Look" did not only affect the designers in the 1950s, but also more recent designers in the 2000s, including Thom Browne, Miuccia Prada, and Vivienne Westwood. Dior's evening dresses from that time are still referred to by many designers, and they have been seen in different wedding themed catwalks with multiple layers of fabric building up below the small waist. Examples include Vivienne Westwood's Ready-to-Wear Fall/Winter 2011 and Alexander McQueen's Ready to Wear Fall/Winter 2011.
Not everyone was pleased with the New Look, however. Some considered the amount of material to be wasteful, especially after years of cloth rationing. Feminists in particular were outraged, feeling that these corseted designs were restrictive and regressive, and that they took away a woman's independence. There were several protest groups against the designs including, the League of Broke Husbands, made up of 30,000 men who were against the costs associated with the amount of fabric needed for such designs. Fellow designer Coco Chanel remarked, "Only a man who never was intimate with a woman could design something that uncomfortable." Despite such protests, the New Look was highly influential, continuing to inform the work of other designers and fashion well into the 21st century. For the 60th anniversary of the New Look in 2007, John Galliano revisited it for his Spring-Summer collection for Dior. Galliano used the wasp waist and rounded shoulders, modernised and updated with references to origami and other Japanese influences. In 2012 Raf Simons revisited the New Look for his debut haute couture collection for Dior, wishing to update its ideas for the 21st century in a minimalist but also sensual and sexy manner. Simons's work for Dior retained the luxurious fabrics and silhouette, but encouraged self-respect for the woman's body and liberation of expression. The design process for this collection, which was produced in only eight weeks, is documented in Dior and I, presenting Simons's use of technology and modernist re-interpretations.
Dior
Available references contradict themselves whether Christian Dior Parfums was established in 1947 or 1948. The Dior company lists the founding of Christian Dior Parfums as 1947, with the launch of its first perfume, Miss Dior. Dior revolutionized the perfume industry with the launch of the highly popular Miss Dior parfum, which was named after Catherine Dior, Christian's sister. Christian Dior Ltd owned 25%, manager of Coty perfumes held 35%, and Boussac owned 40% of the perfume business, headed by Serge Heftler Louiche. Pierre Cardin was made head of the Dior workshop from 1947 until 1950. In 1948, a Christian Dior Parfums branch in New York City was established—this could be the cause of the establishment-date issue. The modern Dior company also notes that "a luxury ready-to-wear house is established in New York at the corner of 5th Avenue and 57th Street, the first of its kind," in 1948. In 1949, the Diorama perfume was released and by 1949, the New Look line alone made a profit of FFr 12.7 million.Expansion, and death of Christian Dior
Expansion from France began by the end of 1949 with the opening of a Christian Dior boutique in New York City. By the end of the year, Dior fashions made up 75% of Paris's fashion exports and 5% of France's total export revenue.In 1949, Douglas Cox from Melbourne, Australia, travelled to Paris to meet with Christian Dior to discuss the possibility of having Dior pieces made for the Australian market. Dior and Cox signed a contract for Dior to produce original designs and for Cox to create them in his Flinders Lane workshop. The agreement between Dior and Cox put Australian dressmaking on the global stage, yet ultimately the 60 Dior models proved to be too avant-garde for the conservative Australian taste. Douglas Cox was unable to continue the contract beyond the single 1949 season.
In 1950, Jacques Rouët, the general manager of Dior Ltd, devised a licensing program to place the now-renowned name of "Christian Dior" visibly on a variety of luxury goods. It was placed first on neckties and soon was applied to hosiery, furs, hats, gloves, handbags, jewelry, lingerie, and scarves. Members of the French Chamber of Couture denounced it as a degrading action for the haute-couture image. Nevertheless, licensing became a profitable move and began a trend to continue "for decades to come", which all couture houses followed.
Also in 1950, Christian Dior was the exclusive designer of Marlene Dietrich's dresses in the Alfred Hitchcock film Stage Fright. In 1951, Dior released his first book, Je Suis Couturier through publishers Editions du Conquistador. Despite the company's strong European following, more than half of its revenue was generated in the United States by this time. Christian Dior Models Limited was created in London in 1952. An agreement was made between the Sydney label House of Youth for Christian Dior New York models. Los Gobelinos in Santiago, Chile, made an agreement with Dior for Christian Dior Paris Haute Couture. The first Dior shoe line was launched in 1953 with the aid of Roger Vivier. The company operated firmly established locations in Mexico, Cuba, Canada, and Italy by the end of 1953. As popularity of Dior goods grew, so did counterfeiting.
By the mid-1950s, the House of Dior operated a well-respected fashion empire. The first Dior boutique was established in 1954 at 9 Conduit Street. In honour of Princess Margaret and the Duchess of Marlborough, a Dior fashion show was held at the Blenheim Palace in 1954 as well. Christian Dior launched more highly successful fashion lines between the years of 1954 and 1957. However, none came as close to the profound effect of the New Look. Dior opened the Grande Boutique on the corner between Avenue Montaigne and Rue François Ier in 1955. The first Dior lipstick was also released in 1955. 100,000 garments had been sold by the time of the company's 10th anniversary in 1956. Actress Ava Gardner had 14 dresses created for her in 1956 by Christian Dior for the Mark Robson film The Little Hut.
Christian Dior appeared on the cover of Time dated 4 March 1957. The designer died from a third heart attack on 24 October 1957. The impact of Dior's creative fashion genius earned him recognition as one of history's greatest fashion figures. Kevin Almond for Contemporary Fashion wrote that "by the time Dior died his name had become synonymous with taste and luxury."
Throughout his career, Christian Dior's designs were worn by notable figures such as First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, Edith Piaf, and Rita Hayworth, Marlene Dietrich, Princess Margaret, and Jennifer Jones reflecting his influence across Hollywood and European high society.