Christian Dior

Women all over the world have been embraced with Christian Dior's "New Look" which has changed fashion in many ways for the better. Christian Dior was born was born on January 21, 1905 in Granville, Normandy. When Christian was young, he and his family, that consisted of, Madeline and Maurice Dior his parents, and his four siblings, lived in Paris, France. The family also had a home in Granville on the coast near St. Malo, where they would often vacation to during the holiday. Here they would help with the preparation of the annual carnival. Christian would often create outfits for his brothers and sisters for the carnival. Because of the war in 1914, the family stayed in Granville for four years before returning back to Paris, in order to stay safe. In 1911, the family moved to an apartment in Paris. Christian Dior had studied for four years and in 1927 he was in the compulsory military service. Madeline Dior gave Christian financial assistance when he needed it. She even paid when Christian decided to open up an art gallery with Jacques Bonjean. Unfortunately, the Dior family went into financial travesty when Christian's mother and brother died in 1931. When Jean Ozenne had heard of Dior's misfortune, she supplied him with food and a place to stay. She also helped Dior start sketching clothing to sell for money. Robert Piguet had bought a few of his sketches, which were published in "Le Figaro". Who knew this would have opened up the first doors for Christian to become a world-renowned fashion designer? Piguet had opened a fashion house in 1938, where Christian was hired for his first job as a designer, but because of the war, Dior was forced to go back into the army for another grueling year. When Dior got back from service, he got a job designing with Lucien Lelong, where he stayed until 1946. Christian Dior was sought out by Marcel Boussac to take over his couture salon operation. Boussac had poured millions of dollars into the salon and everything was embellished, decorated to Dior's liking, and ready made. Dior had assembled a staff and planned his first show for February 12, 1947. The collection included 6 models wearing 90 outfits. This collection was very different from the traditional style during this time. Going against the drab, uniformed look of the 1960's, Dior's collection was full of beauty, feminine clothes, soft rounded shapes, full flowing skirts, nipped-in waists, and hemlines below the knee. The collection was a huge success. A journalist Carmel Snow had said "Oh Christian, what a wonderful

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