Its singularity

Florence Müller: "In his twenties, Christian Dior is director of a gallery of paintings, exhibiting Picasso, Braque, Miró, Dalí, Calder ... Very close to Dalí, they have a common taste for Modern Style , ndlr), the Belle Epoque style from which they will hunt together objects to the Flea. The temperament of Christian Dior has a romantic dominance, he likes to look at the past to make him switch to modernity. This dazzling couturier, who made his mark a planetary symbol during his lifetime, loved nothing so much as the limited company of his close friends, near whom he could finally be himself. Make charades, parts of cards, disguise. He does not like the obligations that this position of haute couturier imposes on him. In his book, Christian Dior and I, he explains that once he understood that he had to play the great couturier as an actor enters a role, everything went more easily. "

His style

"When he draws his first collection, fashion is still in the spirit of the Occupation, the masculine silhouette of the 1940s. Shoulders asserted, hips wiped, short skirt and close to the body. It is a mode of restriction. The New Look by Christian Dior takes the exact opposite. For the tailor Bar, the jacket is in shantung, a simple silk fabric that it magnifies by the cut. The shoulders, soft, are brought back to their natural place. Seeing the female body as a succession of curves, he draws women-flowers. Puts emphasis on the breasts, the fineness of the waist, the bulging of the hips. His way of believing in the rebuilding of the country is to deploy important fabric features for his skirts. This is a scandal, because everything is missing, the rationing tickets continue. But after the war, people need to dream. Women buy parachute cloths, use bedspreads, curtains to cut the skirt in New Look corolla. The spark takes because we waited for the fashion of the post-war, a joyful renewal. Very soon all women dress in New Look, an obvious. "

Its imprint

"A very silhouetted femininity, which by walking moves the fabric of the drapes, symbol of a world in motion. A caesura in the history of fashion because it's the triumphant return to femininity, that of the eighteenth century, the Second Empire and the Belle Epoque. Mr. Dior recomposes the woman as a princess, as evidenced by the jewels and decorations of dresses designed by Swarovski. It allows women to be very seductive by playing the score that nature has given them. "

In 1966, photographer Guy Bourdin sublimated her fetish model Nicole de Lamargé in a Dior dress embroidered with sequins signed Marc Bohan.

Its singularity

"When Yves Saint Laurent, who was hired by Mr. Dior in 1955, succeeds him after his death, he is very young, 21 years old. A change of tone: the couturier no longer lives in this refined universe of luxury, Saint Laurent listens to the street, what vibrates in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, in the cellars , night clubs, jazz, it is inspired by Françoise Sagan, Juliette Gréco, the icons of youth. "

His style

"His first and famous Trapèze collection, in 1958, announces the desire of young women to move freely in their clothes. The seams of the bust that were digging the waist were dropped, the dress gradually moved away from the body. It is a triangle geometry, which pays tribute to what Dior has done before with the lines H, Y, A. The main message is freedom of movement. "

Its imprint

"With the Beatnik collection, in 1960, the break was too strong: black monochromes made of leather. However, if leather or suede are used in sports models, they are never used in haute couture. Saint Laurent is inspired by American bikers, Marlon Brando in L'Equipée sauvage , black jackets in France, bad boys in the suburbs. It is a shock to the middle of the seam. Clients do not recognize themselves. The Americans compare rustic knitted hats to ski hats. This collection, very strong in style, costs her place. But this is an undeniable turning point, black leather jackets are a classic today. "

Its singularity

"Undoubtedly in opposition to his predecessor, as a provocation, he says: " We must not be afraid of classicism. " He presents himself as a man of great elegance. "

His style

"Absolute master of the cup, of the rightness, everything is drawn to the millimeter. He works the silhouette so that the woman looks juvenile. A bust very menu, seams that refine the arm and the shoulder. A chest reduced, a size underlined but not too much. The almost 60's androgynous line of the 60s reminds one of Twiggy. Never exaggerated, realistic, made to be carried easily. In the 80's, he interpreted the tailor of the businesswoman, but it is not Thierry Mugler. The build is asserted, but to a just extent. "

Its imprint

"From the late 1970s to the end of the 80s, Caroline de Monaco, who now embodies the modern girl, is one of the magazines, almost always dressed by Marc Bohan. Big forgotten about the history of fashion, he was adored by his clients. They felt valued, could express modernity without being costumed. Neither too much nor too little. The key to its success: being aware of the needs of its clients. This echoes the work of Maria Grazia Chiuri today: a fashion very pleasant to wear, light, lived. "

Its singularity

"His arrival creates surprise. The journalists, a little chauvinistic, are very surprised to see an Italian arrive, the fashion is then mostly French. He brings with him a sense of opera, sensuality, Italian baroque seventeenth century. A trained architect, he is also an admirer of Frank Lloyd Wright, whose style is very constructed, measured. "

His style

"The extravaganza. The generosity of shapes, volumes and draperies draws on Italian history, a grain of madness with a sense of architecture. It is a fashion of wake, a garment that leaves a strong impression when it passes. "

Its imprint

"His fashion gives all craftsmen the opportunity to express themselves. As ready-to-wear unfolds, the small crafts of haute couture disappear. Strengthened by this awareness, he employs modistes, passementiers, embroiderers, for tumble drops of sheaves of flowers accompanying draperies with knots. This ornamental register is praised by clients and the press. "

Its singularity

"He's a celebrity. In the eighties, he is one of the clubs, a friend of Leigh Bowery, a performer of absolute eccentricity, close to Boy George, one of the actors in this vibrant scene in London. The evenings are moments of freedom, of unexpected; his attitude towards fashion will be: nothing is impossible. "

His style

"It is a fashion that is born of encounters shocks, contrary inspirations. The Masai collection was born from the confrontation of a re-reading of the Belle Epoque, encorsed, silhouetted in S, with Masai art in the use of ornaments made of microscopic pearls of all colors in dog collar, . Its sources and references are so fragmented that in the end one no longer knows where it comes from. "

Its imprint

"Her taste for the faces of extreme women with a tragic fate is undeniable. Like the Countess of Castiglione (1837-1899), a great beauty of the Second Empire, whose outfits made a scandal at the court of Napoleon III, or the Marchioness Casati (1888-1957), who put belladonna in her eyes to open his pupil, had a very strange black look, and walked with a leopard on a leash in extravagant outfits. At Galliano, the garment expresses an inner truth which arises outwardly. A fascinating femininity because worrying. "

Its singularity

"Very discreet, in the background, he has a training as an object designer, is inspired by the modernism of the fifties, especially ceramics, which he collects. Its taste is focused on pure forms. "

His style

"From a distance it is a layout, closely perceived complexity. He is a researcher of forms, but not only. Volumes, structures very design, complex, to obtain a simple effect. The dresses in his collection inspired by Versailles suggest far to dresses baskets of the eighteenth century, but the bustier is made of ribs loosen to form the domed. The assembly strives to create continuity in the design. The surface of the garment is treated very graphically. "

Its imprint

"He does not only approach clothing as an object designer, it renews the art of embroidery. On the dress tribute to Miss Dior, thousands of silk petals scrambled by hand form a pointillist effect with a gradation of tones. He is not the minimalist one believes. It is neither cold nor severe. His color research is subtle. Also, the way he revisited the tailor Bar, to result in a jacket set and tapered cigarette pants to perfect trail, will remain. "