My cousin adores this French Maison. She used to save up for her first Dior bag and finally got it. It’s amazing to have that one go-to style. Me? I fall in love with too many designers and their creativity. Still—some have that eternal elegance. Like Christian Dior.
At the original House of Dior, there’s now a permanent museum dedicated to the designer who loved roses and sculpted silhouettes—most famously, the Bar suit, or what many of us know as The New Look.
“Fashion designers offer one of the last refuges of the marvelous. They are, in a way, the masters of dreams…”
—Christian Dior, Dior by Dior, 1958
Throughout his career, Christian Dior dressed icons such as Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, Edith Piaf, and Rita Hayworth. Marlene Dietrich famously wore Dior on and off screen, and even Princess Margaret was a client. Dior was the go-to designer for Hollywood stars and European high society alike.
A timeline in silhouettes and scents
1941–1946 – Christian Dior works as a designer at the house of Lucien Lelong.
1946 – Together with industrialist Marcel Boussac, Dior opens his couture house at 30 Avenue Montaigne with three ateliers and 85 staff.
1947 – His first collections, Corolle and En 8, are a hit. Carmel Snow of Harper’s Bazaar US calls it “a New Look.”
1947 – Parfums Christian Dior is founded. Miss Dior is named after his sister Catherine.
La Galerie Dior, opened in spring 2022, is a feast for the senses. The entrance is simply breathtaking: an illuminated spiral staircase where miniature versions of Dior dresses, shoes, handbags and hats seem to float—like petals—across a rainbow-hued sky. It’s almost too much to take in at first glance. Maybe go up and down the stairs again—although you’ll be surrounded by many visitors, who have exact same idea.
The exhibition begins with Dior’s early life: childhood photos, letters, sketches. From there, 13 rooms guide you through a cinematic journey—his silhouettes, his tulip shape, his personal office (left untouched), and the evolution through the hands of his successors.
Located at 30 Avenue Montaigne, Paris, where Dior’s collections have been created for over 75 years, La Galerie Dior is a unique exhibition space honouring the visionary mind of Christian Dior and his six successors: Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Raf Simons, and currently Maria Grazia Chiuri.
My favourite designer period? Love at first sight when I saw that 1947 photograph of the Bar suit by Willy Maywald. Later came Galliano’s drama—honestly, a one-of-a-kind connection—and Raf Simons’s modern approach, especially through Frédéric Tcheng’s stunning documentary Dior and I.
La Galerie Dior is a tribute to the artistry and theatre of haute couture. There are fitting rooms ready for models. Dior’s historic salon, once filled with Parisian high society, lives on. One room imagines a Dior soirée in full bloom. Another is dressed entirely in white. Retired couturières—women who spent decades with the Maison—demonstrate how the magic is made. And it is magic: the patience, the art of construction.
Once you’ve wandered through Dior’s dreamscape, you can reflect at the café. Order a glass of bubbles. Or two. With something sweet as well. And if you can’t get enough of the Dior essence—next door, the 2,200m² flagship invites you into Dior’s present-day universe: fashion, accessories, tableware, cosmetics—desire, everywhere. And what I really love love, is the menswear collections, designed by Kim Jones.
An immersive experience.
All beauty.
For opening hours: www.galeriedior.com
Discover more: www.dior.com
All Images are taken by author, courtesy of Christian Dior.
