The New Look is once again coming to New York.
After stops in London, Shanghai and Chengdu, “Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams” will make its US debut at the Brooklyn Museum on Friday.
The exhibition explores more than 70 years of the house’s history through 300 pieces of clothing, photos, videos, sketches, accessories and ephemeral perfumes, complemented by works of art from the museum’s collection.
A new emphasis is placed on New York’s indelible impact on the history of the French house and the rise of more affordable luxury.
It started when Christian Dior laid the foundation for the luxury fashion business we know today by opening his international haute couture ready-to-wear house in 1948 at 730 Fifth Avenue, with his own Christian Dior. French design and New York manufacture. New York collection.
And the influence continued today, with Dior Artistic Director Maria Grazia Chiuri soaking up New York-inspired top-to-bottom, Sarah’s signature T-shirt and tulle skirt. Jessica Parker in the “Sex and the City” television series at the Brooklyn Museum’s Women’s Art Collection.
“When I arrived at Dior, I was obsessed. The first thing I said was: “we are doing the exhibition in Paris, but after that my dream is to have it in New York”. Finally, after five years, we have the exhibition in New York, ”said Chiuri, who joined the house in 2016 and will be at the museum for opening night on Wednesday night and a virtual conversation with artist Judy Chicago on Friday. .
The Brooklyn Museum holds a special place in the heart of Chiuri as the only major museum in the country to have galleries and a collection dedicated to feminist art, the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center. The designer’s work at Dior has been closely linked to feminism since her first rtw collection in spring 2017, featuring Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s manifesto “We Should All Be Feminists” sporting a T-shirt paired with a cotton skirt. midnight tulle.
This t-shirt is in the foreground of a gallery dedicated to Chiuri’s contributions, with designs by Judy Chicago and test plates for “The Dinner Table” nearby. Chiuri was so touched upon seeing this monumental work, completed between 1974 and 1979, with intricate sets arranged for 39 historical feminist icons, that she reached out to collaborate with the artist on the catwalk of her spring fashion show. 2020.
“It’s my favorite place in New York,” said the museum’s designer.
The exhibition focuses on the New Look in New York.
When Dior first arrived in New York City on August 28, 1947, it was only a few months after his first couture collection presentation in Paris, when he responded to wartime rationing and austerity with the ultra-romantic, cinched waist, loose-fitting – has bypassed New Look, so named by American editor of Harper’s Bazaar, Carmel Snow.
Neiman Marcus awarded Dior his “Oscar” for Distinguished Service in Fashion, prompting the designer to embark on a journey through the United States.
As the fashion press cheered, some American women protested, balking at the formality and longer hems of The New Look after the sense of freedom from the practical clothes they wore when working in factories supporting the war effort. . In Chicago, the designer was greeted with signs reading “Dior Go Home” and “Women Join the Fight for Freedom in Manner of Dress,” as shown in photos from the show.
Nevertheless, avant-garde department stores, Hollywood stars like Rita Hayworth and wealthy American customers like Thelma Chrysler Foy have taken hold of the New Look, reviving the influence of French haute couture, interrupted during the war.
But couture had a limited clientele.
Visiting major American cities on his trip, Dior noticed that American women buy stylish ready-made clothes in standard sizes. The designer saw that his real opportunity was in the middle class with rtw. If Seventh Avenue was already adapting French creations at a lower price, why wouldn’t it do it itself?
“Sir. Dior understood straight away that American women had a different lifestyle from French women, so he decided to replicate the collection in a more functional way for New York women, ”Chiuri said. “We have to remember that women in New York started to work much earlier than in Europe. He understood that in the United States, women should be elegant but at the same time, they want to move, they want to walk, they want to work and drive. I think it was very important for him to be in a conversation with American women.
“He has shown that in addition to being an amazing and outstanding creative person, he is also a good businessman,” Christian Bior CEO Pietro Beccari told WWD, noting that seeing of women protesting the New Look, Dior “learned about people from different parts of the world,” giving her a glimpse that other French couturiers did not have at the time.
A quote from Dior in the exhibit reads: “Lifestyles matter and you feel them best when you’re in the right country.”
In October 1948, Dior opened a workshop and showroom in New York designed by Nicolas de Gunzburg, channeling the gray and white interior of the original Parisian house. Lady Mendl, Marlene Dietrich and Mrs. Byron Foy were present.
The Christian Dior New York collections have been adapted to American tastes, with more relaxed cuts, less cleavage, more sober volumes and customizable skirt lengths. And they’ve been sold to department stores across the country, including Lord & Taylor and Filene’s.
Thanks to its experience in New York, Dior created a business model that other European brands would follow when entering international markets.
Open until February 20, 2022, the exhibition was curated by Dior researcher Florence Müller, curator of textile art and fashion of the Avenir Foundation at the Denver Art Museum, in collaboration with Matthew Yokobosky, senior curator of the fashion and material culture at the Brooklyn Museum.
Never before seen, a dozen Christian Dior New York looks open the exhibition, as well as postcards and press clippings documenting the designer’s travels in America. Note in particular a grouping of black architectural dresses from the 1950s, next to a screen by Charles Eames, to underline the American impulse to democratize good design, and the famous black sculpture “First Personage” by the artist new. – Yorker Louise Nevelson.
It is interesting to see Christian Dior New York looks contrasted with a trio of haute couture pieces; we notice the ease of the sleeves and the size of the American models, compared to the more rigid jacket and skirt of the New Look Bar haute couture, for example.
“He wanted to capture the movement, and you see the bow going up like an arrow, it’s overdone in the red ‘Arizona’ haute couture coat from 1948, but in the red Dior New York ‘Cigare’ dress from 1949, you get the same idea of something ascending with the collar, the hips framed by pockets, but more subtle and wearable, ”explained Muller. “In France we have more of a pyramidal vision of society… It was more difficult this idea of ready-to-wear for everyone. Dior’s discovery of the United States was an inspiration.
“The reason for Dior New York was partly financial due to import issues, but also to bring it to a wider audience,” added Yokobosky, noting that the collection’s prices were comparable to those of designer rtw. today.
Another treasure is Dior’s 31-inch Fashion Doll 1880 (Afternoon Ensemble), which entered the collection of the Brooklyn Museum in 1949, making it the first American museum to acquire a Dior. The doll was included in France’s “Merci Train” of thank you gifts to the United States after World War II, Yokobosky said.
New to the Brooklyn exhibition is a visually striking section dedicated to leading American photographers who have helped sell Dior’s image to the world, including Lillian Bassman, Louise Dahl-Wolfe, William Horst P. Horst, William Klein, David LaChapelle, Annie Leibovitz, Gordon Parks, Irving Penn, Herb Ritts, Cass Bird and Tyler Mitchell.
Richard Avedon’s iconic “Dovima With Elephants, Evening Dress by Dior” photograph from 1955 is juxtaposed with the Dior haute couture dress that she represents in the fall of 1955. There is also a photo of “The Last Sitting” by Marilyn Monroe from 1962 with Bert Stern. Although she was not credited, because Monroe died before the fashion editorial had a chance to come out, she was wearing Dior.
The looks of the artistic directors who succeeded Dior – Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Raf Simons and Chiuri –– are also included, along with the sketches, inspirations and mood boards of the creators. Five Bohan dresses are new to this exhibit, as is a pink YSL A-line dress from 1958, illustrating how he took Dior in a very different direction during his brief tenure, freeing up the waist.
“I hope people see how the history of the brand has been shaped by so many people, because sometimes when we talk about Dior, we don’t realize how many designers have worked for this brand, and it is very important because it is not only the story of Mr. Dior, but also Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan and John Galliano ”, declared Chiuri, the first woman to lead Dior, who brought an activist tendency to the brand that echoed the protesters Dior first encountered in the United States.
One of the most instagrammable sections, the museum’s 10,000 square foot Court of Fine Arts has been transformed into an enchanted garden of 102 dresses embroidered and covered in dazzling flowers in vertical exhibits reaching up to the ceiling.
There is also a hall dedicated to Hollywood, with dresses worn by Rita Hayworth, Dietrich, Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Charlize Theron, among others. Also included are two recent acquisitions – the embroidered top and cropped skirt worn by fresh-minted Dior Ambassador Yara Shahidi at the 2021 Critics Choice Awards, and the Dior cape personalized with the names of Academy-snubbed directors worn by Natalie Portman at the 2020 Oscars.
Since its opening at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 2017, “Christian Dior: Creator of Dreams” has been seen by more than 3 million people, Beccari said. “What I feel is that whoever comes out with a Dior tattoo because he understands the richness, the complexity of this house, which is among the most sacred of luxury today,” he said. . “We believe in their power, so we are investing a substantial amount of money to have these exhibitions around the world with a local touch.”
Next stop will be the M7 Arts Center in Doha, Qatar in 2022.
The Brooklyn Museum exhibit comes at a time when Dior is investing heavily in the US market with the opening of a 6,480 square foot temporary boutique at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue, new outlets in Santa Clara and San Diego ; Scottsdale, Arizona; Houston and Orlando, Florida, and remodeled stores in Manhattan and The Shops at Crystals in Las Vegas.
“It is a fundamental market for Dior. US clients are accumulating investments with some of our largest clients, this is true for men, women and jewelry, ”Beccari said. “We will continue to gain market share in the years to come. “
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