The exhibitions, encounters with Christian Dior

Essential in Christian Dior’s life, the gardens were also a major source of influence for the couturier, with regard to fashion and perfumes alike.

A hundred and twenty years after Christian Dior’s birth in Granville, revisiting his childhood garden through the prism of his creations and those of his successors, thanks to the House of Dior’s and public and private lenders’ generous loans, is an excellent opportunity to celebrate a creator who saw himself as a perfumer as much as a couturier.

Brigitte Richart, Chief Curator at the Christian Dior Museum and general curator of the exhibition
Barbara Jeauffroy-Mairet and Vincent Leers, scientific curators

Second part of the 2023 exhibition that mainly put the spotlight on the Museum’s own collections, the 2024 exhibition showed to what extent Christian Dior was a visionary creator as much as an astute entrepreneur mindful of the success of his fashion house. Complementary loans, in particular by the House of Dior for the more contemporary pieces, enabled development of an exhibition itinerary that explored all the creator’s many sides and returned to his fundamental sources of inspiration, many of which were born in Granville.

Curatorship: Brigitte Richart, Chief Curator at the Christian Dior Museum, assisted by Gwénola Fouilleul, her deputy, and Barbara Jeauffroy-Mairet, Cultural Project Manager.

Granville and Villa Les Rhumbs, the couturier’s childhood home and now a Museum, were the settings and decisive sources of inspiration for a personal journey with universal appeal. From Granville to America by way of Paris and London, Christian Dior left his mark on the places he passed through, just as much as they helped shape him. Three stopovers, laid out on the villa’s three floors, bear witness to the creativity of the great couturier, who was largely influenced by his Granville childhood, and the extension of the Dior empire’s borders to all four corners of the world. Most of the items exhibited were from the Christian Dior Museum’s own collections.

Curatorship: Brigitte Richart, Chief Curator at the Christian Dior Museum, assisted by Barbara Jeauffroy-Mairet, Cultural Project Manager, and Gwénola Fouilleul, her deputy, and Sophie Picut, researcher.

After founding his Couture house in 1947, Christian Dior made hats an essential part of the Dior style, French Haute Couture and international fashion. The Atelier Mode Dior (Dior Fashion Workshop), which is exclusively dedicated to the creation of hats, has remained in business throughout the seven decades of the House’s history. Since 1996, the great British milliner Stephen Jones has perpetuated and re-energised this tradition among the House of Dior’s successive artistic directors.
The exhibition saw an outstanding selection of almost two hundred hats dialoguing with some thirty Dior Haute Couture dresses, providing a “total look”, as well as with some fifty fashion photographs and advertisements for beauty products and makeup celebrating the art of the hat.

Curatorship: Florence Müller, art and fashion historian. Artistic Director: Stephen Jones.

“From Christian Dior to Stephen Jones” catalogue. Texts by Stephen Jones with contributions by Florence Müller, Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni, Vincent Leret, Dean Rhys Morgan and Alexander Fury. Editions Rizzoli (editions in French and English). April 2020.

The exhibition Dior and Roses was devoted to that most beautiful of flowers, one of Christian Dior’s favourites, and to one of his favourite colours, rose pink, presenting Christian Dior’s and his successors’ creations with a focus on the flower and its colour. The Haute Couture outfits, perfumes and accessories from the House in Avenue Montaigne, along with paintings, sculptures, photographs and decorative art objects assembled there, were so many variations on the flower and its colour, from the softest to the brightest of pinks.

Curatorship: Eric Pujalet-Plaa, Assistant Curator at the Museum of Decorative Arts/Paris.

“Dior and Roses” catalogue. Texts by Eric Pujalet-Plaa, Vincent Leret, Frédéric Bourdelier, Gwénola Fouilleul, Barbara Jeauffroy-Mairet and Brigitte Richart. Editions Rizzoli (editions in French and English). April 2021.

Almost a hundred Haute Couture outfits and accessories, complemented by photographs, archive documents and personal objects cherished by Christian Dior – including his good-luck star, last diary and pair of scissors – traced the remarkable career of the couturier born in Granville in 1905. For the event, the Museum made use of all its rooms to present a wide selection from its collections, which have been continuously augmented for over 30 years. Recent acquisitions were spotlighted in particular, purchases and donations alike.
The Christian Dior, Itinerary of a Couturier exhibition, illustrated the diversity and wealth of the Museum’s collections in high style, while enabling visitors to follow the outstanding Granville-born couturier’s journey step by step.

Curatorship: Brigitte Richart, Chief Curator at the Christian Dior Museum, and Gwénola Fouilleul, her deputy.

On the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the birth of Princess Grace of Monaco, eternal icon of elegance and beauty, her personality and style were highlighted. From her first meeting with Prince Rainier III in 1955, rising Hollywood star Grace Kelly showed a special taste for the House of Dior’s creations. She even struck up a friendship with Marc Bohan, Christian Dior’s artistic director from 1960 onwards. In 1967, the Princess agreed to sponsor the Baby Dior brand and inaugurated its first boutique.
Presenting an outstanding ensemble of 85 Haute Couture dresses from the wardrobe conserved at the Prince’s Palace, complemented by a selection of portraits, photographs, film clips, sketches, bottles of perfume and letters, the exhibition celebrated Grace of Monaco’s unforgettable style, signed Dior.

Curatorship: Florence Müller, art and fashion historian.

“Grace of Monaco: Princess in Dior” catalogue. Texts by Brigitte Richart, Florence Müller, Gwénola Fouilleul, Vincent Leret and Frédéric Mitterrand. Editions Rizzoli (editions in French and English). April 2019.

30 years after the constitution of its first collections and 20 years after the creation of the Museum itself, the Christian Dior Museum presented a selection of Haute Couture dresses, accessories, Monsieur Dior’s personal objects, and documents illustrating the Museum’s remarkable heritage.Treasures of the Collection, 30 Years of Acquisitions tells the story of Villa Les Rhumbs, the childhood home with the Museum of France and House of the Illustrious labels, and of its collections, which have been amassed over the course of time and which continue to grow and live.
The exhibition made use of the Museum’s own collections to help visitors understand the family and personal history of Granville’s most famous native son, his vocation as a couturier, his vision as an entrepreneur, his journey as a creator, and the unique style and worldwide success of the House of Dior’s creations up to the present day.

Curatorship: Brigitte Richart, Chief Curator at the Christian Dior Museum, and Gwénola Fouilleul, her deputy.

The exhibition Christian Dior and Granville was part of the celebration of the fashion house’s seventieth birthday, providing a novel perspective on the Dior style’s origins in Granville. On 12 February 1947, Christian Dior presented his first fashion show and was met with success unprecedented in the history of couture, immediately establishing the House as the absolute synonym for French Haute Couture. The family home had undoubtedly played a fundamental role in the couturier’s sources of inspiration. The exhibition evoked this attachment to his Norman roots through a double itinerary that was both historical and stylistic. Objects were juxtaposed with some sixty Haute Couture dresses created by Christian Dior between 1947 and 1957 and then by the House of Dior’s successive artistic directors, who stayed true to the couturier’s memory and continued to refer to his favourite themes.

Curatorship: Florence Müller, art and fashion historian.

In the context of the 2016 Normandy Impressionist Festival, which was devoted to the theme of the portrait, the exhibition set out to discover the great couturier’s and his successors’ body of work and its sources of inspiration through evocation of emblematic names from the worlds of the aristocracy and entertainment (theatre and cinema alike), along with figures embodying French and international elegance, including Princess Grace of Monaco, Josephine Baker, Marilyn Monroe, Charlize Theron and Marion Cotillard.
An outstanding selection of ninety Haute Couture dresses, along with photographs, drawings and paintings, highlighted the elegance of women in Dior and the times when Dior creations became one with their appearance and personalities.

Curatorship: Florence Müller, art and fashion historian.

“Women in Dior – Portraits of Elegance” catalogue. Texts by Laurence Benaïm and Florence Müller. Editions Rizzoli (editions in French and English). May 2016.

On 12 February 1947, Christian Dior revealed his first Haute Couture collection. He invented a new aesthetic, imposed the restoration of a triumphant femininity and became a worldwide celebrity. One model in particular in the legendary collection was the primary focus of attention, the famous Bar ensemble. The artistic directors who succeeded the fashion house’s founder have paid regular tribute to this innovative manifesto. Dior, the New Look Revolution provided visitors with a world tour of Dior creation from 1947 to 2015, based on eighty Haute Couture creations and a selection of other items including photographs, documents and perfumes.

Curatorship: Florence Müller, art and fashion historian.

“Dior, the New Look Revolution” catalogue. Texts by Laurence Benaïm and Florence Müller. Editions Rizzoli (editions in French and English). 2015.

Ever since the presentation of its first Haute Couture collection in 1947, the House of Dior has enjoyed the attention of some of the world’s greatest photographers, themselves inspired by the style made famous by the great couturier and his successors. A selection of two hundred photographs, accompanied by some sixty Haute Couture dresses and a wealth of period documents illustrated the links between Dior and photography. The greatest names in the history of photography rubbed shoulders with less distinguished practitioners, united by the same talent put at the couture house’s service.

Curatorship: Florence Müller, art and fashion historian.

“Dior: the Legendary Images. The Great Photographers and Dior” catalogue. Texts by Florence Müller, Sylvie Lecallier, Barbara Jeauffroy-Mairet, Brigitte Richart and Farid Chenoune. Editions Rizzoli (editions in French and English). 2014.

In the context of the Normandy Impressionist Festival, the exhibition Dior Impressions bore witness to the links that have united the House of Dior and the Impressionist movement since 1947. For the event, the Christian Dior Museum put over 70 dresses in dialogue with a selection of Impressionist masterpieces, made possible by an outstanding series of loans, many of them from the Musée d’Orsay and the Marmottan Monet Museum.

Curatorship: Florence Müller, art and fashion historian.

“Dior Impressions. Dior and Impressionism” catalogue. Texts by Florence Müller, Farid Chenoune, Philippe Thiébaut, Barbara Jeauffroy-Mairet, Brigitte Richart and Vincent Leret. Editions Rizzoli (editions in French and English). 2013.

The exhibition Stars in Dior explored the connections between the House of Dior and the cinema. From Marlene Dietrich and Marilyn Monroe to Marion Cotillard and Charlize Theron, the seventh art’s female icons have embodied the “Dior woman” on the screen and in town alike. In the 1940s, thanks to Christian Dior’s talent, a symbiosis developed between the worlds of cinema and Haute Couture. Film actresses became paragons of French-style elegance. From actresses’ private and public lives to their professional activities on the screen, the exhibition combined Haute Couture outfits and accessories with such items as cinema costumes, film clips, original posters, on-set photographs, drawings, archive documents and magazines.

Curatorship: Florence Müller, art and fashion historian.

“Stars in Dior” catalogue. Texts by Serge Toubiana, Florence Müller and Jérôme Hanover. Editions Rizzoli (editions in French and English). 2012.

Haute Couture outfits, accessories and perfumes from the House of Dior dialogued with artworks, photographs, archive films and literary works, so reviving the great couturier’s passion for the art and artists of his day. The exhibition also evoked the many sources of inspiration drawn from art history, which have continued to nourish the Dior House’s creativity from Christian Dior’s presentation of his first collection in 1947 up to the most recent creations.

Curatorship: Florence Müller, art and fashion historian.

“Dior, the Artists’ Ball” alphabet book. Texts by Florence Müller, Barbara Jeauffroy-Mairet, Brigitte Richart, Vincent Leret and Emmanuelle Polle. Editions Artlys. May 2011.

Through Haute Couture outfits, accessories and perfumes created by the House of Dior, along with paintings, photographs, archive films and literary works, the exhibition gave Christian Dior’s world and creations a cultural and artistic perspective: the history of balls from the 18^th century to the present day. The exhibition paid tribute to Christian Dior himself, his talent, refinement and the taste for costume shaped by the Granville Carnival, all of which expressed themselves at the grandest of post-war balls. The balls the couturier attended included the Ball of Kings and Queens in 1949, where he appeared dressed as “King of the Animals”, the Artists’ Ball in 1956, where he dressed himself up as a dandy, and the Masks and Dominos Ball hosted by Charles de Beistegui at the Palazzo Labia in Venice in 1951, described as the ball of the century.

Curatorship: Jean-Luc Dufresne, Heritage Curator and Scientific Advisor at the Christian Dior Museum.

“The Dior Grand Ball” catalogue. Texts by Jean-Luc Dufresne, Barbara Jeauffroy-Mairet, Vincent Leret, Henri Joannis-Deberne and Brigitte Richart. Preface by John Galliano. Editions Artlys. May 2010.

The exhibition paid tribute to Marc Bohan, the Dior House’s artistic director from 1961 to 1989, and brought together thirty years of creations for some of the House’s greatest customers, including Grace of Monaco, Jackie Kennedy, Princess Soraya, Sophia Loren, Olivia de Havilland, Princess Margaret, Elizabeth Taylor, Brigitte Bardot, Michèle Morgan, Empress Farah Diba, Isabelle Adjani, Sylvie Vartan, Nastasia Kinski, Lauren Hutton and Maria Callas. More than sixty Haute Couture outfits along with accessories and perfumes helped visitors appreciate the evolution of lifestyles and trends in elegance over three decades.

Honorary Curator: Marc Bohan. Curator: Jean-Luc Dufresne, Heritage Curator and Scientific Advisor at the Christian Dior Museum.

“Dior: the Bohan Years. Three Decades of Styles and Stars” catalogue. Texts by Jean-Luc Dufresne, Barbara Jeauffroy-Mairet and Vincent Leret. Preface by Marc Bohan. Editions Artlys. 2009.