Christian Dior

This major exhibition on Christian Dior explores the brilliance behind Dior’s dramatic creations that revived the entire Parisian haute couture industry after the devastation of the Second World War. In 1947, the opening of the new couture house and the revolutionary “New Look” swept away the wartime masculine silhouette, making Christian Dior’s postwar fashions desired, worn and copied by women around the world.

Drawn from the Royal Ontario Museum’s extensive collection of Christian Dior couture, complemented by a dozen garments from the McCord Museum’s Dress, Fashion and Textiles collection as well as loans from Dior Héritage, Paris, the exhibition focuses on the period from 1947 to 1957 and offers a captivating insight into the creative process and the mechanics of the Parisian haute couture industry during the 1950s. It examines Dior’s iconic lines, luxury textiles and romantic embroideries that laid the foundation for the fashion house’s global success. Featuring breathtaking fashions from daytime to evening wear for grand occasions, the exhibition invites visitors to discover the exquisite craftsmanship, intricate detail and inspired luxury designs by this key figure from the Golden Age of haute couture.