AD12

Born in Grandville in a rich industrial family, Christian Dior starts his
professional career in an art gallery where he sketches a few drawings
and paints a few works.
The art lover opens his first gallery in 1928 and a second in 1931,
intent on sharing his passion. “We aimed at showing the artworks of
the great masters we most admired: Picasso, Braque, Matisse, Dufy,
and all the painters that we knew personally and already revered:
Christian Bérard, Salvador Dali, Max Jacob, the Berman brothers”
explains Christian Dior in his autobiography.
In 1938, Christian Dior starts in the world of Haute Couture as a
designer and draughtsman for couturier Robert Piguet. He has his
first meeting with success thanks to his “black and white hound’stooth
suit”.
In 1945, Christian Dior meets Marcel Boussac. Convinced by the talent
of the young designer, Boussac decides to become his benefactor
and invests 60 million francs to create the Dior Haute Couture house,
opening the door to the first Dior House on 30 Avenue Montaigne.
After the death of Christian Dior, talented designers including Yves
Saint Laurent, John Galliano and Raf Simons took the helm of the
fashion empire.