DIOR BAGS

 

The firm Christian Dior has its founder’s name. Christian Dior, the fashion firm, was founded in 1946 in Paris, France. Unlike many other well known fashion firms from France which have been in business for over a hundred years or even two hundred years, Dior is not even 100 years old yet it is one of the top names worldwide.

 

Christian Dior was born in 1905 in a French village called originally Granville, he had a wealthy upbringing, as an adult he was an art dealer but due to financial hardship he used to sell fashion sketches to French firms. Eventually he became a fashion designer for Robert Piguet. By the end of 1946 he had decided to open a fashion firm under his name.

 

He was not the owner of the company, he was financially backed by a textile magnate at the time named Marcel Boussac, and given a portion of the ownership and profits.

 

In 1947 he launched his first collection named “New Look” which featured soft shoulders, and a full skirt with a small waist. The actual line included 90 models of clothing in two collections actually named “Corolle” and “Huit” but the magazine Harper’s Bazaar gave the collections the name “New Look”.

 

The style at the time was radically different from the utilitarian fashion seen after the second World War. This innovation, featuring a more feminine style, focusing on a woman’s shape brought to the company Christian Dior instant significant success.
The success of that line and subsequent ones from Christian Dior were so significant that they restored Paris as the capital of fashion of the world (During the World War that status had been lost).

 

Dior was so important in the recovery of France after WWII that by the end of 1949 their fashion sales represented 75% of total sales of fashion in France and 5% of the total exports of the entire country of France (that big).

 

Some of the relevant product lines of Christian Dior at the beginning where the “New Look”, the “A-line”, the “H-line” and the “Y-line”.

 

Right from the beginning the company and Christian Dior not only focused on fashion, they also launched a perfumes business. Creating the iconic name Miss Dior in 1947 (named after Christian Dior’s sister, Catherine Dior).

 

Christian Dior died very young in 1957 at the age of 52, after a third heart attack.

 

After his death the company was in chaos, and management even considered closing it, but the company was just too important for the fashion industry and the French economy. Yves Saint Laurent was Christian Dior’s assistant at the time of his death (he was only 21 years old) and after his death he was promoted as the head designer (Artistic Director).
The company also had a head of the workshop from 1947 to 1950 another famous name, Pierre Cardin.

 

Yves Saint Laurent proved to be an excellent replacement for Christian Dior, being as meticulous as his mentor. His initial collections were a success but as time went by his designs became more daring and started getting bad reviews and bad reactions in the community. He was called for military duty by the French Army and after 6 collections created for Dior he was replaced at the end of 1960 by Marc Bohan.

 

The companies related to the Christian Dior name itself continued having a number of success in the fashion and fragrances industries, they had even expanded to offer watches. The problem the companies named after Christian Dior had after the 1970’s was the fact that they were still owned by the textile group of Marcel Boussac (Boussac Group) and the textile business was failing. Forcing them first to sell the Chirstian Dior Perfumes division to Moët-Hennessy, the luxury goods group (owned by Bernard Arnault). In 1978 the Boussac Group went into bankruptcy with it the rest of the Christian Dior companies. They were acquired by another group called the Willot Group which in 1981 subsequently went into bankruptcy as well.

 

In 1981 Bernard Arnault and his Moët-Hennessy group acquired the bankrupt Christian Dior fashion related businesses and slowly brought Dior back to its old glory and in 1988 they also acquired a significant stake in Louis Vuitton.

 

The firm Christian Dior is now part of LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët-Hennessy) one of the most powerful and relevant groups of companies in the Luxury segment in the world Including some of the most important names in luxury fashion, jewelry and Champagne and Cognac.

 

Dior today offers an extensive collection of some of the most coveted handbags, some of the most relevant yearly collections of ready-to-wear fashion, some of the most well recognized luxury perfumes and colognes, some of the most luxurious watches and jewelry and a number of accessories like sunglasses, scarfs, etc.

 

They operate more than 220 stores worldwide and the name is still a top 5 name in luxury fashion worldwide.

 

---