Christian Dior was born on January 21, 1905, in the small town of Granville, in Normandy. His well-to-do parents moved the family to Paris when he was five, and there, Christian Dior went to college and studied post-graduate Political Science, making many friends in intellectual and artistic circles. In 1928, this would-be architect who later remarked, ‘(I was) prevented by my family and circumstances from ever gratifying this passion,’ opened a contemporary art gallery showcasing the works of Chirico, Utrillo, Braque, Fernand Léger and the paintings of friends Max Jacob and Christian Bérard.

The 1929 stock market crash ruined the Dior family finances and those too of Dior’s business partner. In 1935, he started selling fashion sketches to various Parisian Couture Houses and illustrated the fashion pages of the Figaro newspaper, a talent which led to him being hired as a designer – first for the house of Robert Piguet in 1938 and then, Lucien Lelong in 1941. Five years later, textile tycoon Marcel Boussac decided the finance Christian Dior’s own Couture House, purchasing the gracious mansions at 30, Avenue Montaigne which is still the home to the house of Dior.

Christian Dior’s first Spring/Summer collection, shown on February 12, 1947 in chilly, post-war Paris, was a sensation. His small-waisted, full skirted ‘New Look’ silhouette was a symbol of luxurious provocation that made headlines around the world. This initial success was followed by revolutionary project developments never seen before in the rarefied world of Paris couture: the opening of a Fur department, the launching of one of the first ever ‘designer’ perfumes, Miss Dior, and from 1948 onward, the signing of numerous licensing agreements across the globe.

By the time of his untimely death in 1957 at the age of 52, Dior counted among his high-profile clients women as stylish and diverse as Marlene Dietrich, Rita Hayworth, Ava Gardner, the Duchess of Windsor and Eva Peron and was remarkable on the world fashion stage as one of it’s most adventurous and prescient players.