Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams

Abstract

Fashion is about so much more than just clothes; it is an environment, cultivated through labor and the material in the form of text, images, video, objects, and of course, the garment itself. As a designer, Christian Dior understood this, and his quote “From the shoes to the hat, the silhouette must be viewed as a whole” was included in the very first panel the visitor encountered when entering the Brooklyn Museum. As the exhibition Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams explained, only a few years after founding the House of Dior in 1947, Christian Dior licensed accessories including jewelry and perfume to extend the brand’s reach. The dreamscape crafted by Dior was accomplished through press, marketing, and multisensory engagement as much as it was by beautiful clothing designs. This strategy was evident in the exhibition itself, with garments on display placed in conversation with film, art, photographs, and press excerpts, allowing for an innovative and visually stunning retrospective of the House of Dior legacy. Curated by the Denver Art Museum’s Avenir Foundation Curator of Textile Art and Fashion Florence M€ uller and the Brooklyn Museum’s Senior Curator of Fashion and Material Culture Matthew Yokobosky with exhibition design by Nathalie Crini ere, Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams builds on past exhibitions held at the Mus ee des Arts D ecoratifs in Paris, also curated by M€ uller, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Long Museum West Bund in Shanghai, China, and elsewhere. Fittingly, this exhibition was displayed in the Brooklyn Museum’s Beaux-Arts Court, which was designed in the late nineteenth century. Visitors traveled through alternating darkened pathways and brightly lit spaces, as well as a vast, fourteen-meter-high atrium labeled the “The Enchanted Garden,” where Dior’s fascination with the natural world was placed on display (FIGURE 1). The prolonged conversations and mask-wearing selfies of avid exhibition visitors demonstrated the sustained desire and interest in fashion in the museum as a form of escape, even as the unrelenting impacts of the COVID19 pandemic continue to be felt. I would like to thank Dr. Ingrid Mida, Katie Johnson, and the Dress editorial and reviews team for their insightful editing and guidance. I would also like to thank Dr. Alison Matthews David for her thoughtful suggestions and insights. Finally, I would like to thank the Brooklyn Museum for providing access to the images included in this article. Jaclyn Marcus is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.