Over 60 handmade miniature versions of classic Christian Dior designs will go on display in The Dubai Mall this month in an exhibition tracing the history of the French design house.
The replica dresses and suits featured in Le Theatre Dior, running from November 9-24 at Fashion Catwalk Atrium in The Dubai Mall, were made in Dior’s haute couture ateliers, using the exact techniques that are used to make their full-sized dresses. The same fabrics as used on the original dresses were sought out, and embroidery — done by hand — was scaled down so that everything is in proportion.
The designs on display span the label’s history, starting with Christian Dior’s ground-breaking New Look collection from 1947, right up until today’s looks, created by Raf Simons, who recently announced he was stepping down from his role as creative director of Dior.
Photo courtesy: Patrick Demarchelier
Other big fashion names also served in that role after Christian Dior himself — Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferre, John Galliano — and replicas of dresses they created are also included in the 12 sections of the exhibition that explore Dior’s impact and influences.
While the majority of the designs are haute couture dresses, the show opens with Dior’s iconic design, the Bar suit, part of his New Look collection that drew so much attention when it was unveiled in post-war France and still looks fresh today. Dior’s love of flowers, gold and Marie Antoinette and their influence on his work are explored in themed areas such as The Dior Garden, J’Adore and Versailles: Le Trianon. These motifs originally inspired the founder, but are still used to this day as signatures of the brand — think of Rihanna running around a moonlit Versailles in her campaign for Dior earlier this year, or Charlize Theron’s glittering J’adore commercials, or the indoor gardens created by Simons for Dior’s couture shows.
Celebrities and their connection with the house are celebrated too, with a section looking at the pairing of star power and couture, from Elizabeth Taylor to Jennifer Lawrence.
The exhibition also reveals the precision, handicraft and time that goes into creating a couture dress in The Dior Ateliers. Only designers accredited by the French fashion syndicate, who make their pieces in Paris, by hand and to order, can officially call themselves couture, making this section of the exhibition an important one for anyone wanting to understand fashion design and concepts.
