70 Years of Dior

words by ben stephens

Remember 1947? It was the year of the first Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Ferrari dropped plans on their new sports car and Ben Chifley was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. Those days seem rather hard to imagine in today’s world. 1947 did however also land itself with a special birth; Christian Dior.

70 years later and the label is still producing garments that make heads turn and credit cards swipe.

Quite the feat when you think about it.

In celebration of the hard work from the couture powerhouse that is Dior, 2017 will see the National Gallery of Victoria and The House of Dior produce an exhibition, totally exclusive to Melbourne.

There will be more than 140 garments on display, displaying the rich history the label has forged over the last 70 years. The showcase will explore the themes used by the seven designers who have played a key role in producing the cuts that have been seen on the catwalk. From Christina Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Giafranco Ferré, John Gallinao, Raf Simons and Maria Grazia Chuiri.

Just those names alone let you know that you are surrounded by haute legends.

The exhibition will pay special attention to the highlights of the 1947 New Look Collection, the Dior Signature ball gowns and evening dresses and a collection of Maria Grazia as the first female head designer of the brand.

The showing of Spring 1948 will be on exhibition, celebrating the relationship between the brand and Australia. You see, in 1948 the first Dior show outside of Paris took place with fifty original creations on the catwalk at David Jones in Sydney.

The House of Dior will be accompanied by a program of talks, tours and events all curated by the NGV Friday Nights program, which will feature music, food and all the live music you can handle.

The House of Dior will be at the National Gallery of Victoria from August 27 to November 7.

Major announcement: in celebration of the seventieth anniversary of the House of Dior, one of the most prestigious couture houses in the world, the NGV will present the never-before-seen exhibition The House of Dior: Seventy Years of Haute Couture at NGV International in August 2017. Thank you to our Principal Partner @davidjonesstore

A post shared by National Gallery of Victoria (@ngvmelbourne) on Dec 8, 2016 at 5:06pm PST