Christian Dior

Born in Normandy in 1905, Christian Dior began his career in fashion in the mid 1930s selling sketches of hats and dresses to Parisian couturiers. Following wartime service in the south of France, he returned to Paris in 1941 and gained considerable experience working for leading designer Lucien Lelong. In 1946 he established Maison Dior with the financial backing of textile manufacturer Marcel Boussac. A year Later, his first haute couture collection – the “New Look” marked a sensational departure from the austerity of war torn 1940s. Not only did it help to re-establish Paris as the centre of world fashion, it also set the tone for more prosperous decades that followed. Unlike many of his contemporaries, who accessorized their clothing with unobtrusive, “off-the peg” jewellery for fear of it detracting from their costume, Dior designed jewellery as an integral part of his collections. Although early designs were almost exclusively couture pieces made for particular outfits or individual clients – notably the Hollywood actresses Marilyn Monroe and Bette Davis – his later pieces were produced under licence in far greater numbers for sale through exclusive retail outlets. These included pieces conceived in his spirit by the House of Dior over the Decades following his sudden death in 1957. It is these pieces that collectors are most likely to encounter today.

Maison Dior’s concern that costume jewellery sold under the Dior brand should mirror the quality of its clothing design is reflected in the reputation of the companies and individual designers commissioned to produce the pieces. They include Henry Schneider and Kramer in the United Stares; Mitchell Maer in England; Henkel & Grosse in Germany (from 1955); Josette Gripoix in france and, most recently, Robert Goossens. The list of Innovative designers who headed the company after Chrstian Dior’ s death in equally im pressive: From Yves Saint Laurent, via Mark Bohan and Gianfranco Ferré, to “enfant terrible” John Galliano.