The period spanning the launch of Christian Dior's famous New Look in 1947 until the fashion designer's death in 1957 was a golden age for haute couture, especially in Paris, where luxurious fashion houses were largely based.
Renowned Paris-based designers included Dior, Cristobal Balenciaga, Pierre Balmain and Hubert de Givenchy. In London, Hardy Amies, John Cavanagh and Norman Hartnell excelled.
The fashion industry had been disrupted by the second world war when private clients dispersed, international sales almost ceased and many couturiers closed.
During the war, Germany wanted to move couture's base to Berlin. This was resisted by Lucien Lelong, president of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, the regulating body of the French fashion industry. 'It is in Paris or it is nowhere,' he proclaimed.
Dior's couture house was launched on February 12, 1947. His designs were the antithesis of masculine wartime fashion and featured outfits accentuating the shoulders, bust and waist above full, long skirts. Carmel Snow, editor of Harper's Bazaar, dubbed this style the New Look. London couturier Cavanagh described it as 'a total gratification of female form'.
Thanks to the fashion industry, the economies of Britain and France blossomed. Traditionally catering to wealthy private clients, the couture houses also sought new markets. In France, the fashion industry was at the heart of the economy, with Dior alone contributing 5 per cent of national export revenue in 1949. Similarly, London couture used Paris as a model. Most British fashion designers trained in Paris as the fashion and textile industry brought huge profits to the country's post-war economy.