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SCMP Reporter

Buyers and critics at the 1947 fashion show in Paris were visibly shocked.

   'What does he think he's doing?' commented one stunned reviewer.

  Long before the outrageous offerings of Lacroix, Versace, Westwood and Lagerfeld, those gasps were prompted by the first-ever collection of Christian Dior.

   His feminine designs lowered hemlines, softened shoulders and emphasised the waist - but shocked the world and even drew accusations of obscenity.

   Yet on the 50th anniversary of his 'New Look' that changed the face of fashion forever, Dior is hailed as one of the most influential designers of the century.

  With the premiere of his collection of full skirts, some made from more than 25 metres of fabric, he outraged a public accustomed to straight, knee-length skirts dictated by post-war shortages and rations.

   When his collection of exaggerated feminine silhouettes, narrow shoulders, pinched waistlines and emphasised bust and hips went on tour in the United States, an engineer in Texas threatened to kick Dior out of the state and Chicago housewives threatened to burn him.

 The press branded his designs outrageous and extravagant.

 But Dior passionately defended his creations.

  'Our civilisation is a luxury and we are defending it,' he said.

   Unmoved by the criticism, he declared: 'Better to be slated over three columns on the front page than congratulated in two lines on the inside pages.'     Dior had catapulted himself into the spotlight by causing the international furore. The fashion fraternity quickly rallied around him. Carmel Snow, editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar, coined the term for the 1947 collection when she wrote: 'It's quite a revolution, dear Christian. Your dresses have such a new look.'    The 'New Look' was immensely influential and soon other designers were emulating its opulence and romance.

 Born in Granville, France, in 1905, Dior was the son of a wealthy industrialist. Determined to steer their son towards a diplomatic career, his parents opposed his wish to study fine art and forced him to study political science.

  Dior eventually defied his parents by running an art gallery in Paris, a venture interrupted by the Depression, his father's financial ruin and his mother's death.

   A young idealist, he travelled to Russia in 1931 but was shocked by the harsh reality of Soviet life and returned to Paris.

  In 1935, aged 30 and desperately short of money, he started selling design sketches to couture houses and magazines. Two years later he went to work as a design assistant to Robert Piquet.

  In 1942 he joined the design house of Lucien Lelong where he met fabric millionaire Marcel Boussac, who was searching for a designer to revive his flagging fortunes. Dior refused, claiming he was 'not meant by nature to raise corpses from the dead', but instead presented Boussac with plans for his own couture house.

  The tycoon agreed to fund Dior and in 1947 he presented his first revolutionary collection.

 The death knell for post-war frugality in fashion was sounded by lavishly-embroidered evening gowns as the House of Dior became an overnight sensation.

  For the following decade, until his death on October 24, 1957, Christian Dior was the world's most influential designer - and his influence is still felt today.



Dior, name that changed fashion