La Galerie Dior

From dress making to perfumery and jewellery Dior sure has had one of the most interesting and exhilarating journey. When I was in Paris for my summer holiday with my mum and cousin, we were fortunate enough to get tickets for the exquisite Dior exhibition at the starting point of La Galerie Dior, 11 Rue Francois 1er, 75008 Paris, France. To book your tickets now follow this link, to take the journey of Dior as a brand that you won’t forget. https://billetterie.galeriedior.com/selection/timeslotpass?lang=en&productId=10228405282935

"Whatever you do -for work or pleasure- do it with passion! Live with passion..." - Christian Dior.

Entering the museum you are greeted with the most beautiful spiral staircase surrounded by cases of colour coordinated dresses, accessories and shoes. Dior had always had a passion for art in all forms, where he gathered lots of his inspiration even in his later years from nature and its beauty. For example, the famous Miss Dior perfume was inspired by Christian's sister Catherine Dior who was a flower producer with a unique sense of character and whose nickname was 'Miss Dior'. Monsieur Dior wanted 'a perfume that smelled like love' which was composed in 1947 with help from Paul Vacher, which soon became the inspiration for the Miss Dior dress continuing his floral legacy as this haute couture piece was embroidered entirely with thousands of silk flowers combining nature and haute couture released in 1949.

"I think of my dresses as an ephemeral architecture, dedicated to exalting the beauty of the female body". - Christian Dior.

Dior desired to make women "not only more beautiful but happier" he used his designs to capture this idea by introducing the bar suit as shown on the right hand picture in February 1947. His designs consist of a slender nipped waist, sloping shoulders, flared skirt also highlighting and emphasising feminine curves with his creations to enhance the body movement. All of his future creations continued the Dior style by embodying the Dior attitude, being described as modern and timeless, combined with the constructions of Monsieur Dior.

"Creation is an ensemble of a thousand and one things, it's a thousand and one skills gathered around the couturier" - Christian Dior.

Have you ever wondered the meaning behind the iconic Dior bees? Well like a swarm of bees the seamstresses in the atelier shape the dresses from sketches into unique architectural creations that we see today "the ateliers seem to be able to decipher an unbreakable code". Once they receive the sketches they are placed upon a 3d model and once approved on a live model the fabric is chosen from the samples put aside two months before as Dior said "Couture is the marriage of design and material". In ten days, the lines of collection are established with the preservation of priceless techniques.

To conclude, as you can see this exhibition was exquisite and beautifully executed. It is a must if you are going to Paris! You learn so much about the history and development of the brand giving you the opportunity to experience the history and alterations. Below I have attached a video I created capturing my favourite parts of the museum.

Love Madalena x