Dior (clothing brand)

Dior logo

Dior is a French fashion house founded in 1946 by Christian Dior. The company is headquartered in Paris' 8th arrondissement. The company is owned by Bernard Arnault who acts as its chairman. Also, Dior owns approx 42% stake in luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, also controlled by the French businessman, which results in having 59% of voting rights. All Dior accessories are available only via official Dior stores.

French fashion house Christian Dior was founded in 1946 by fashion designer Christian Dior and textile manufacturer Marcel Boussac ("King of Cotton", at the time the richest man in France). A haute couture atelier was opened in Paris, in a mansion on Avenue Montaigne. In February 1947, Dior presented the first collection of women's clothing, nicknamed *New Look* by American journalists, which revolutionized the world of post-war fashion. In 1948, also with the financial support of Marcel Boussac, the perfume company Christian Dior Perfumes Ltd was founded. More about Christian Dior was learned in 1950, when he became the exclusive designer for actress Marlene Dietrich.in an Alfred Hitchcock film . He began to dress many celebrities of that time for social events. In 1949, a branch was opened in New York, and that year Dior accounted for 5% of French exports, including three-quarters of fashion exports. In 1952, a branch appeared in London, and in 1953 - in Mexico, Cuba, Canada and Italy. The popularity of Dior's models led to the emergence of a large number of fakes for them, to which the company responded by releasing cheaper versions of high-fashion models in relatively large quantities, this practice was called ready-to- wear . Also beginning in the 1950s, the company began licensing the right to use the *Dior* trademark to third parties. In the mid-1950s, Christian Dior had 8 subsidiaries and 16 branches and employed 1,700 people. During this time, several successful lines were released ( *A, Y, Arrow,* and *Magnet* ), but none of them surpassed *New Look*. After the sudden death in 1957 of Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, who joined the company in 1953, was appointed the leading fashion designer of the house. After he was called up for military service in 1960 (and after that he founded his own company), the artistic direction of the house passed to Marc Bohan, who had been the couturier of the Christian Dior house for almost 30 years. Meanwhile, Boussac, who owned a third of the company, had financial difficulties since the early 1970s, and in December 1984 Bernard Arnault bought his bankrupt group for a symbolic franc. First of all, he liquidated hopelessly unprofitable textile factories (of which Boussac had 65) and concentrated on the Bon Marché shopping center and the Christian Dior model house. The model house was transformed into a holding company around which Arnault began to gather other fashion houses and luxury goods businesses ( Moët Hennessy , Louis Vuitton , Christian Lacroix , Celine, Hubert de Givenchy ). In 1989, Gianfranco Ferre became chief fashion designer, and the number of licenses to use the *Dior* trademark was also reduced that year , from 280 to 150. In the early 1990s, stores were added to the flagship stores in Paris, New York, Geneva and Hawaii in Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Cannes and Waikiki. By 1995, sales reached a billion francs ($177 million). In April 2012, Raf Simons took over the position of creative director. In 2016, he was replaced by Maria Grazia Chiuri, becoming the first female creative director of the house in its history. In 2001 again *Dior Homme* boutique at 30 avenue Montaigne has opened. The interior design concept, in keeping with the house's first men's collection, was developed by designer Hedy Slimane. Celebrities such as Brad Pitt and Mick Jagger soon became *Dior Homme's* clients.

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