Dior: The New Look Revolution

Description

The Dior Bar suit is one of the most influential designs in the history of fashion. On February 12, 1947, Christian Dior presented this voluminous skirt combined with a jacket featuring a tiny waist, a pronounced bust, and enhanced hips in his first collection in the salons of 30 Avenue Montaigne. After the show, the editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar, Carmel Snow, exclaimed: "It's quite a revolution, dear Christian! Your dresses have such a new look!" The phrase made headlines. Dior's "New Look" transformed the zeitgeist of a post-war France and heralded a storied career for his label. The New Look was an immediate sensation, and everyone wanted to wear the silhouette that Dior was later to describe as "the return to an ideal of civilized happiness." Almost seven decades after its creation, the New Look revolution and its spirit continue to inspire the House of Dior. From Yves Saint Laurent to Raf Simons, season after season, the designers of Dior have interpreted the legendary curves of the Bar suit, dreaming up bustier versions, designing it in woolen denim or adorning it with masculine prints.

Laurence Benaim is a writer and historian known for her biographies of Yves Saint Laurent and Marie-Laure de Noailles, among others.

"[Dior: The New Look Revolution], small and elegant, takes the reader through a beautifully illustrated chronology of the suit, from its 1955 appearance in the iconic photo by Willy Maywald in a Paris winter scene. Illustrations include an 1892 Manet painting of a woman equestrian in a nipped-waist ensemble, along with contemporary versions of coats and dresses that show its continuity. It's a quiet book-and an essential reference for designers and fashion historians. Love it." -TheStyleSaloniste.com "Celebrate the historical, fashion forward revolution inspired by the legendary Dior, while venturing into his enduring legacy." -THE SOCIETY DIARIES