Christian Dior was born on January 21, 1905 in the northwest of France, in Normandy. When Dior was a year old, his parents bought a house near Granville, where the early childhood of the future couturier passed.

His father owned chemical fertilizer plants. These factories were their family business, founded by Dior's great-great-grandfather back in 1832. Thanks to this, the family was well provided for, and little Dior did not need anything. But since their house was located not even in Granville, but a kilometer from this small town, Dior was accustomed to silence and solitude from childhood. He grew up as a kind obedient boy, which later turned out to be some obstacle for him in his work.

And when the little couturier was 5 years old, the whole family plunged into a large Peugeot limousine and went to Paris. Before that, Dior visited the capital every year with his parents, but now they were leaving a quiet house on the banks of the English Channel for a long time, since the parents decided to move to Paris for permanent residence.

Arriving in Paris, his father continued to successfully do business, and Dior's mother, who loved cultural entertainment and shopping, tirelessly used money, strength and time for shopping and fitting.

From the very beginning of his life to the very end, Christian believed in predictions with trepidation, was superstitious. I must say, there were grounds for that. After all, from childhood, otherworldly forces indicated the path to success in a future career. The fortune-teller, looking at the hand of little Christian, prophetically told him the main moments of life.

She predicted that he would get rich thanks to women, gain fame and travel around the world. Only in those distant years, the fortune-teller's prediction caused the laughter of his relatives. The Dior family lived in financial prosperity, guided by conservative life principles. Therefore, it seemed strange to them that Christian in the future would make money on women, because they saw him in a completely different role.

What about travel predictions? What travels can be when Christian is a shy, shy home boy. For him to leave the house and go to visit a friend is already a whole adventure and feat.

Christian Dior grew up such an unusual boy. He did not at all possess the skills of a great leader who could manage a well-coordinated team of craftswomen-needlewomen, fashion models and saleswomen. By nature, Christian was unsociable, quiet and completely averse to responsible business activities. Later, when he had to make decisions, he was often guided by intuition, and not by a balanced calculation, and sometimes by predictions ...

Thanks to the wealth in the family, Christian Dior received his primary education at home. And then he went to continue his studies at school, where he was a diligent and meek student, although he had a small flaw, which still annoyed the teachers. Dior loved to draw women's high-heeled shoes in the margin of textbooks.

The family's life was measured and serene, but this did not last long, a harsh time was approaching, the First World War broke out and with it many difficulties. Dior's family moved from place to place, and he had to change more than one place of study. By the end of his studies, he became interested in art, painting and music. And after passing the bachelor's exam, he told his parents that he would go to continue his studies at the school of fine arts. This prospect did not please Dior's parents, and they insisted on his admission to the school of political science. Dior resigned himself to the will of his parents, but his soul continued to strive for art.Very soon he made acquaintances and real friends, which in this period of his life, and in the future, will largely help and predetermine the future career of a couturier. But the parents did not like it, they regretted that the son was not growing the way they wanted to see him. In their understanding, Dior was rapidly becoming an unlucky loser, unadapted to life.

Years flew by, youth and studies passed. The moment came when he was drafted into the army. The war was long over and the service was not fraught with dangers, and in addition, thanks to the solid financial position of the family, I had to serve in an engineering regiment located in Versailles.

The time of service flew by quickly, and when Christian Dior returned to civilian life, he wanted to fulfill his dream - to do what he loved - painting, music, art, in order to be with his friends. After thinking and discussing with friends, he realizes that the best way is to combine everything at once. And this path is the opening of your own art gallery, where you can exhibit paintings by artists and arrange meetings and discussions with like-minded people.

The parents were not immediately convinced, but here Dior showed persistence for the first time, and they made concessions. Christian Dior received financial support from his father, who helped open his own Gallery. True, the father demanded that their surname should not appear anywhere in the name of the gallery.

And when the first exhibitions were held, everything turned out to be not as hopeless as it seemed to my father at first glance. The gallery in the near future could well bring financial success, Dior's parents calmed down, and he plunged into his favorite work. But the happy life of the family did not last long. Soon Dior's brother fell ill, and after him a serious illness befell his mother. After a short time, Dior's mother dies. On this, misfortunes do not leave the family.

Against the backdrop of the great financial depression, Dior's father made a number of financial investments that, within just a few days, lead him to complete ruin!

One misfortune after another undermined Dior's confidence in the existing bourgeois system, he is disappointed in it. Starting to feel the closeness of communist ideas, together with his friends, Christian Dior decides to go to the USSR. But here, too, he discovers that the ideas of communism are embodied in reality in a completely different way from what they saw in Paris. The reality of Soviet Russia in those years seemed very gloomy, but despite this, Dior was able to see and touch the rich cultural and historical heritage of the past - tsarist Russia, which will be useful to him in the future.

All this in the future, but for now Dior decides to return home to France. He realized and felt for himself that it is better to have a bourgeois system in crisis than what the communists have turned Russia into. His return comes with complications, and at home he will face new and new disappointments and trials. The family is no longer able to pay even for housing in Paris. They all move back to Normandy. Dior's friend also went broke, as a result he is left alone with his problems in Paris.

In this difficult period of his life, he had to make a decision, which he later regretted more than once - to sell paintings from the gallery, since there was no other way out. Yes, he made a mistake - he sold paintings by Picasso, Matisse, Salvador Dali and other great artists. At the time of the crisis, many sell, and few buy, everyone lives in need, which means that there is no way to get decent money for these masterpieces. The paintings were sold with difficulty and for a pittance. Years later, Christian Dior regretted, realizing that he had lost his invaluable canvases and could no longer return them.

The gallery was empty and closed, but even this misfortune did not leave Christian. As a result of worries and hardships, he fell seriously ill. The treatment took a long time, and for a complete recovery and rehabilitation I had to go to the mountainous area, where the climate had a health-improving effect on the weakened organism.

After undergoing treatment, Dior returns and finds the family in complete decline.Now he has nothing left. There is nothing more to sell, all that remains is to look for a job. What kind of work, when there is a crisis around and people are more fired than accepted. You have to look for any job, just to survive. But everywhere there is a refusal, the future couturier is not required anywhere.

Refusals to hire played an important role in Dior's life, during this period he began to actively draw sketches of clothes, dresses and hats, and his friend decided to help - he found an opportunity to sell the drawings. The first success in the field where art, painting and fashion are intertwined into a single whole, brings Dior new strength, and he takes up work with redoubled enthusiasm. Every day, from morning to evening, he draws and draws new sketches. Hats easily find their customers, but with sketches of dresses it is more difficult, here Dior has to improve his work day after day. This is how a career in fashion began.

Unlike other couturiers, Christian Dior came to the profession quite late, his path is not at all the same as that of Gianni Versace or Cristobal Balenciagawho helped mothers to sew dresses from childhood. Dior had to go a long way before finding the business that brought him fame. Parents could not determine his path to the world of fashion; on the contrary, they opposed such undertakings in every possible way. But apparently from birth, Dior had a desire for art, which, despite all the obstacles, periodically reminded of itself, and at a certain moment became the work of his whole life. Let's remember the ladies' shoes, which he painted on the pages of school textbooks.

Every day for two years, Dior drew sketches of fashionable clothes and accessories, and his work was rewarded, the sketches began to sell well, and money appeared. Now again there was an opportunity to rent good housing, even brighter prospects were outlined. Dior was invited to work as a fashion designer at the Piguet Fashion House. He doubts, and cannot immediately make a decision, considering himself insufficiently prepared for such a responsible work. But overcoming doubts, he decided, and soon comprehends new wisdom in the fashion industry of that time. The models invented by Dior in the House of Piguet are very successful, and it seemed that the streak of adversity and hardship was forever left behind, but 1939 comes, bringing a new war and hardship.

Christian is called to the service for the second time, where, by chance, he does not stay long. Very soon he found himself in the countryside in the south of France, where many refugees gathered at that time. Here Dior tries his hand at farming, sharing the fate of the peasant. It is quite possible that he could forever stay to live somewhere in Provence, cultivating farmland, because as a child, Christian loved life in nature, in silence and solitude, but fate had a different fate for him.

There is encouraging news from Paris - the Piguet Fashion House invites him to return. For a long time Dior cannot decide whether to go to Paris or stay among the peasants, where a measured life has already begun to take shape. After thinking for a while, he nevertheless decides to return to Paris, but when he arrives, he is met by a surprised Piguet. It turns out that he was waiting for him, waiting, but without waiting, he hired another fashion designer. Dior again suffered a failure, only in this failure there was at the same time an opportunity for future success. An acquaintance recommends Christian Dior to the Fashion House to Lucien Lelong, where he is immediately taken. And the Lelong Fashion House at that time was one of the best schools of tailor's art with a long tradition of high sewing.

Thanks to the new appointment, Dior gains a lot of knowledge and gets to know new people from the fashion industry, because Lelong Fashion House is much larger than Piguet House. Here he works with fashion designer Pierre Balmain. They compete in their skills, strive to learn from each other's skills and abilities.

As you can see, real success did not come to the couturier's life right away. Christian Dior's success in life was both a matter of chance and the result of hard work.On the one hand, the future couturier did not plan to become a great fashion designer in childhood and did not sew his dolls, like many other fashion creators, and on the other hand, Christian Dior always strived for beauty, art and perfection, he did not waste time, but constantly something - what he did - he worked and improved.

When Christian first heard information about the search by textile magnate Marcel Boussac for a talented couturier who could breathe new life into the Gaston fashion house, he did not even think of proposing his own candidacy for this post, which he secretly dreamed of. ... Christian Dior, due to his modesty and indecision, wondered who could be proposed for such a responsible position. He went over in the memory of all his friends from the world of fashion, but could not offer a worthy candidate.

After some time, Christian again heard a request for help in finding a worthy candidate for the House of Gaston, but again did not dare to offer his services. Dior believed that he still lacked experience and was not yet suitable for such work. He still needs to gain skills ...

A little more time passed, and when Dior was approached for the third time with the same offer, he thought that this was his chance, this opportunity should not be missed. The age is no longer youthful, you have to make up your mind and take fate into your own hands. Moreover, Dior's acquaintance - Pierre Balmain, who recently worked with him at the House of Lelong, opened his own Fashion House. Balmain's business quickly went uphill, and Dior was hurt, because he was no worse. This fact also pushed Christian to make a responsible decision. Having thought for the last time, he overcame doubts, and said, why not me, and offered his candidacy.

This was probably the most important decision in Christian's life, he was given a chance, and he mustered the determination to take the opportunity to show all his professional abilities. Simultaneously with the decision, he lost his peace, because, due to his modesty and indecision, with trepidation and excitement, he was waiting for the first negotiations with the entrepreneur - the owner of the Gaston Fashion House, Monsieur Bussac.

Dior was tormented by doubts, he was afraid of losing his usual way of life, where everything was familiar and understandable, and life only got better and proceeded measuredly and serenely. At the same time, Dior did not want to refuse, since the age was no longer youthful. He understood that this could be the last chance - to change everything and realize his dreams, to make dreams come true, and not to be someone's assistant for the rest of his life and remain an amateur.

Dior's meeting with Bussac and his assistant was approaching. Dior had an idea of ​​his future patron as a stern and decisive person, if not tough. Monsieur Boussac is an experienced businessman, who has been involved in making deals all his life, how will he perceive him, completely inexperienced and insecure?

And when the meeting took place, Christian made a discovery for himself, he saw that Monsieur Bussac is a very pleasant and educated person who understands and appreciates culture and art no less than the art of managing finances and thoroughbred horses.

From that moment on, Christian gained some confidence and enthusiastically told Bussac about his vision of a modern fashion house. Dior said that the post-war world is very different, and the past cannot be returned, the Gaston Fashion House cannot be revived, but it is much more effective to create a completely new fashion house ...

In those days, the power of brands was not yet as great as in the 21st century. Now, on the contrary, it is easier to revive a fashion house that has been in oblivion for decades than to create a new one. Then the situation was different, and Christian Dior, using all his knowledge in the field of fashion, told Monsieur Bussacu what he would like to make a fashion house, he described the fashion house of his dreams.

Bussac listened to Dior's fiery speech and said - this project is the exact opposite of my plans. And they parted. For several days there were no offers from the businessman.Dior was already beginning to think that Bussac did not like his project, and in his heart he was even glad that the fate of taking on such a great responsibility had passed. Now he will return to his calm and familiar way of life.

But Bussac did not forget about Dior and his project, he just, as an experienced businessman, decided to check everything. After a few days, Dior was invited to discuss the details of the proposed fashion house. Christian Dior, who had already managed to tune in to refusal, got used to the idea of ​​returning life to its normal course, and refused from worries and worries. He suggested that entrepreneurs look for another couturier to create a new fashion house he proposed.

Together with the refusal, Dior hastened to check the correctness of his choice with the higher powers. To do this, he again goes to the soothsayer for prophecy and advice. The fortuneteller described to him such unimaginable prospects and opportunities, such a fantastic success that Dior did not believe in the possibility of all this in real life. But the soothsayer insistently advised him not to refuse and to give Bussac's consent. Dior resigned himself and, thanks to the support of otherworldly forces, gained the resolve to re-start negotiations with his new patrons.

The negotiations went smoothly, Bussac and his assistant proved to be very smart, tactful interlocutors and wise entrepreneurs. Therefore, Dior agreed to start creating a Fashion House, on the condition that he then transfer the created House to another designer, and then retire.

In the future, Dior changed his mind, and he had no desire to give his beloved Fashion House to the management of another couturier, but at the very beginning, all important decisions were given to him with great difficulty. His example clearly shows how important it is at the very beginning to overcome yourself, your fears, and decide on an important responsible step.

And now the negotiations are over, the future Fashion House is not only in Dior's dreams, but is already taking shape in documents and figures. Now we need to find suitable premises for the new venture. Dior had been choosing a mansion for a long time, visiting and looking through the many proposed houses, but he could not make up his mind, everywhere something did not suit and did not seem like that. Time passed, and the mansion was not found, Dior again began to get nervous, and here again the case intervened, thanks to which the couturier was offered exactly the kind of mansion he dreamed of. Every day the Dream Fashion House was getting closer to its real opening.

The premises have been chosen, it remains to assemble a team of loyal and purposeful professionals. The fashion industry grew larger and larger in the post-war period, now the fashion house is a serious enterprise, not a family workshop. As you know, a serious business cannot be built alone. Any successful business is the result of the joint work of a well-organized team of professionals, a team of people driven not only by the desire to get rich, but also by common ideas, dedication to their favorite business.

Where to find such people? By that time, Christian was not a newcomer to the fashion world, he already had both experience and many acquaintances, but despite this, it took Dior a lot of strength to be able to assemble a team of professionals devoted with all their hearts to the cause of haute couture. At the very beginning, the team of the House of Christian Dior numbered less than 100 people. With such a small staff of employees, Christian managed to create even his own advertising department, because the new era dictated its own conditions, and it is impossible to open a new Fashion House without advertising.

When looking for personnel, Christian Dior was guided by the couturier's experience and flair. At the same time, he paid attention to acquaintances, although according to the laws of business, it is impossible to take acquaintances into business. In the case of Dior in the fashion business, this is somewhat different. He managed to find and invite the best specialists, thanks to which real professionals took every place in the new Fashion House.

During this period, one of Dior's acquaintances suggested, in parallel with clothes, to immediately launch a perfumery line, to which Dior agreed, although there was no fashion house as such.In the future, the line of perfumery became the most important component of the Christian Dior business. The couturier was personally involved in testing new fragrances, creating packaging design and bottle shape. This work brought Dior no less pleasure than the creation of his favorite dresses, with which he sometimes even talked. Christian Dior owns a well-known aphorism about perfumery: "Perfume is an unsurpassed shade of female personality, this is the final touch of an image."

Today, Christian Dior perfumery ranks 4th in the world in terms of sales. The perfume house Dior has made many discoveries in the field of obtaining essences of fragrances. These achievements are an additional confirmation that Dior was not mistaken when opening his Fashion House, he immediately ventured to open not only a clothing line.

This is how the work of the House of Christian Dior began small. At first, many of the new employees of the Fashion House were unfamiliar with each other. True, then, during the creation of the first collection, everyone met, rallied into a single friendly team, where a kind atmosphere reigned, which refutes rumors and gossip that the fashion world is cruel, and all people in the fashion world are cruel and cold.

When it seemed that all the employees were found, the premises were ready, another difficulty appeared on Dior's path - the selection of models. Today, when thousands and thousands of girls dream of becoming a model, it sounds strange - difficulties in finding fashion models, but then there was a different time.

In the post-war period, many girls, the so-called ancient profession, were unemployed in Paris. Among them were girls generously gifted by nature - beauties with model volumes. It was they who responded to Dior's proposal. The job offer was given through advertisements, thanks to which a lot of girls came. But despite the natural beauty of the face and a gorgeous figure, almost all the girls could not boast of good manners, and for a fashion model of that time it was very important.

Christian Dior was anxious about the choice of models, he talked with every girl. It is important for the couturier who wears his dress, because the fashion model is the soul of the dress, she makes the dress alive, which means that the success of the collection as a whole depends on her.

Therefore, Dior devoted a lot of time and effort to the selection of girls - fashion models, and for the future he decided not to publish such ads. After a long search for girls and conversations with candidates for fashion models, 6 girls were selected, who became the first models of the House of Christian Dior.

In the future, the number of fashion models constantly grew, and Dior always treated these girls with the most reverent and forgave them their weaknesses and mistakes, always supported and encouraged them in difficult times.

One of the first models in the House of Fashion was a girl of Slavic appearance, named Tanya. Dior met her while he was working as an artist at the Lucien Lelong Fashion House. Tanya began her career as a fashion model at the age of 16 and from the very first days she mastered the new profession so well that she could be called a fashion model from God.

After recruiting models, the Fashion House began work. Dior developed the concept of the future brand, assembled a team of professionals, found premises, and Monsieur Bussac took over all the financial support. As an experienced businessman, he understood that it was necessary to free Dior, a true artist, from administrative worries and give him the opportunity to devote himself entirely to creativity. This union of artist and entrepreneur proved to be very effective, and the success of the Christian Dior brand was approaching every day.

Many people, both then and now, say that Dior was incredibly lucky, because he was created heavenly conditions for creativity, as if Dior had very little merit, and that he achieved success thanks to the huge money of Bussac. However, we recall that Bussac was not his relative, he was an experienced businessman, and was looking for a fashion designer for more than one day before coming to an agreement with Dior. Many couturiers of the time had a chance to convince Boussac and get funding to make their dream house come true.Many had a chance, but the Christian Dior Fashion House came true.

And most importantly, Monsieur Bussac was an experienced businessman, and he did not immediately entrust huge amounts of money. At the beginning, the Fashion House was created with very modest funds, including there were no huge expenses for advertising. The key to success was Dior's dresses, they were exactly what women of that time dreamed of. Therefore, the union of Dior and Bussac is not an accidental luck for Christian, but the result of his readiness for a great cause.

With everything ready, Dior began working on his first collection for the House that bears his name. According to Dior himself, this first collection required the least amount of effort for its creation, because he was just starting, and he did not have to focus on the expectations of the public. Dior worked as the instinct of the genius couturier suggested to him. He loved dresses so much that most of the time he thought about them, and at some moments in his thoughts he even talked with his dresses. Love for your work, multiplied by work, always brings success, and the success of Christian Dior was approaching every day.

To create the collection, Dior left Paris, going to his friends in the countryside. There, in silence, he completely immersed himself in the creative process of creating his favorite dresses. Dior sketched small figures on small pieces of paper, thought over the drawings and drew a beautiful flower woman. He painted wherever there was inspiration, and visited the original idea - at the desk, in bed and during dinner, and even while taking a bath, if images came to mind, Dior would take a piece of paper and draw figures.

The lines of the drawing hugged the female body, reproduced the waist lines, raised the chest, outlined the hips. Some sketches were postponed as unsuccessful, and the best of the best were finalized, and a few days later a selection of images was born, which in the near future will receive the name New Look.

After completing the sketches, Dior hurried to the workshops, where the selected drawings were to be turned into ready-made dresses. But first, these small prints passed from hand to hand, from one craftswoman to another, they all thought about the collection together. The women commented on the dresses, going from drawing to drawing, Dior made some technical remarks about the cut of the dress, and together they formed a complete image. The opinion of all women was important to Dior, because in the end he created dresses that were the work of his whole life for them.

Having decided on the sketches, the craftswomen, together with the couturier, took up the selection of fabrics, choosing them by color, texture and thickness. The fabrics were felt, stretched in length and width, obliquely, looked at the fabric under different lighting, crumpled pieces of fabric, stroked, weighed on the hand. What they did not do with fabrics, because the choice of fabric is very important for the future dress. How the dress turns out depends not only on the cut, but also on how the fabric looks and behaves.

The collective work of the entire team of the Christian Dior Fashion House created the New Look collection - the fashion of tomorrow. And when the choice of fabrics was determined, work began on the sketches in the workshops. Many hands turned the couturier's ideas into reality. They cut, sewn, sewn pieces of fabric, each moment bringing the seemingly shapeless fabric closer to the finished image of the conceived dress. It took many days and sleepless nights of hard work to get the collection ready for the first show.

Demonstration of the collection to the public - journalists, buyers, secular characters, this is the most important and responsible day for a couturier. And this long-awaited day has come, Christian Dior presented its first collection, in the success of which the couturier had no confidence at all. Dior believed, hoped that his works and the work of the craftswomen would be appreciated by the public. Of course, the couturier was worried, all the craftswomen were worried, because they put their whole soul into these dresses.But when the hour has come, nothing depends on them, now fashion models come forward, exclusively their work begins, and the success of the collection depends on how each of them presents the dress. And Dior has to wait for the public's trial.

When the first show took place, the Dior collection was released, it made a real sensation in the fashion world. And not only in the fashion industry, even people far from fashion discussed the New Look collection. Most admired Dior's beautiful dresses, but there were also those who complained about the images proposed by New Look. The collection offered not only a new look at fashion, not only revealed new trends, it changed the fashion and image of a woman.

Not everyone likes change, not everyone likes to watch someone else's success. In general, if you look into history, you can see that there is never a successful person or a successful company, a product that everyone liked. So it was with the New Look collection. Envious people and just people who are not ready to accept new images criticized the dresses of Dior and himself.

Christian Dior was accused of extravagance, excessive consumption of fabrics and excessive ostentatious luxury. They belittled his personal merits in creating the collection, explaining the success with huge money and the entrepreneurial talent of Bussac, who, in their opinion, invented everything himself. There were rumors about Christian Dior's incredible advertising costs, and all this against the backdrop of the difficulties of Europe that has not yet recovered from the war.

In fact, Bussac gave Dior freedom of creativity, financed the project, and the couturier made all his dreams come true, created images that women fell in love with. Even now, many years later, one cannot look at Dior's dresses with indifference, they still evoke admiration and a desire to possess them. And there was practically no money to be spent on advertising that very first collection. Dior's dresses won the hearts of women so much that they advertised themselves.

The New Look collection was proposed after a long war and hardship, when women were content with the bare essentials. But the war was over, everyone wanted renewal, new happiness, new hopes, and the New Look collection, like no other, instilled confidence that all the bad was behind.

/ p> New Look was for women a ray of sunshine and a piece of happiness, giving hope for a better future. After the war, women were tired, they especially wanted joy. And besides, women wanted to please themselves and of course to please men, because after the war there were fewer men than women, and a new image was needed in order to be able, as never before, to charm men in order to find their happiness.

The New Look style coped with this task remarkably. Dior's luxurious dresses adorned women, made them truly feminine and sexy. Only their sexuality was not flashy-vulgar, but restrained and elegant.

Even the names of the dresses from the New Look collection spoke about this, the dresses bore the names “Love”, “Tenderness”, “Happiness”, “Corolla”. Creating the first collection, Dior did not pursue commercial gain and did not set money as the only goal of his work. The couturier sincerely strove with the help of dresses to give women the opportunity to become more beautiful, to make them happier. The women felt this care and attention, thanks to which the prediction of the gypsy woman about the wealth that came through women came true.

Dior's perspicacity in fashion trends is also confirmed by the fact that his dresses were liked not only by sophisticated fashionable ladies, but also by the younger generation - simple young girls also accepted the new New Look fashion with delight. That is why New Look dresses have entered the history of fashion and even today in the 21st century, many years later, everyone who is even slightly interested in fashion, art and beauty knows the image of Dior's beauty.

The collection was so popular that a recording system had to be introduced in order to streamline the flow of customers who literally stormed the Fashion House. It was an absolute success! And along with success, some unpleasant responsibilities came to Dior.The couturier had to communicate a lot with strangers, including journalists, which was not easy for the modest and shy Christian. Indeed, in his soul, he still remained quiet and modest.

The success of Christian Dior was so overwhelming that the fashion house, which was barely six months old, was put on a par with the Eiffel Tower in the media, so much it has become a significant landmark in Paris. The Fashion House was visited not only by industry professionals - buyers, journalists, glamorous women of fashion, but also just curious tourists who wanted to look and touch the House where the fashion of tomorrow was created.

Many people wrote letters to Dior. Letters came in by the thousands, most of them carried gratitude and admiration for the collections, but there were also letters of reproach and even letters with threats. People reproached the couturier for making dresses that disfigure women, make them strive for unnaturalness, and make them laugh. These are the accusations that were made against Christian Dior. Today's couturiers are also accused of this, for the fashion that is being created now. Although, in fact, couturiers do not create the image of an ideal woman and do not force their models to starvation and unnatural thinness. Each time has its own ideals of beauty, and if now we see slender thin beauties on the covers of magazines and in advertising campaigns, this is not a merit of the couturier imposed on society. This is the embodied ideal of society itself, which exists in the imagination and subconsciousness of millions and millions of men and women who strive to conform and possess. A successful couturier simply feels better than others what outfits his contemporaries need.

Together with the first success and the appearance of wealth in the life of Christian Dior, the second part of the fortuneteller's prediction began to come true. Dior begins to travel the world, discover new countries and cultures, and look closely at the women of these countries.

One of the first voyages was sailing on the ocean liner "Queen Elizabeth" in the United States.

Dior remained humble and homely, but his new position required him to communicate with his customers around the world, give press conferences and attend awards ceremonies. In the United States, Dior had to do everything at once, receiving an Oscar, many press conferences and communication with American women. America at that time was the most promising market, American women enthusiastically accepted the couturier's collections, because America after the Second World War became the owner of the greatest wealth. Money flocked to the United States from all over the world, and thanks to this in America of those years, even the middle class began to join the luxury market.

If in France and other European countries, even before the war, it was customary to hide luxury in every possible way, and it was not encouraged to flaunt their success and wealth, then in the United States, everything was exactly the opposite. In America, all the conditions for achieving success in business were built, and the ideal, part of the American dream, was precisely financial well-being. Therefore, the purchase of expensive cars, the arrangement of chic interiors, and of course the purchase of luxury clothing has become an obligatory attribute of success for Americans, because with the help of all these things it is easiest to show their success. In addition, the entire US policy was aimed at increasing domestic consumption. Consumption, which spurred the growth of industry and science, became the engine of the American economy for many years to come.

Dior just needed to personally get to know this powerful country full of new opportunities, and their acquaintance began in New York, where he arrived by boat. New York almost always makes an extraordinary impression on those who see it for the first time and especially from the side of the ocean. After New York, Dior traveled across the boundless expanses of the United States by train and car, visited Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and other cities, leaving many different impressions in his soul.In addition to the impressions of the trip, Dior made a number of discoveries for himself in terms of professional activity, he learned a lot from enterprising Americans and, upon his return, applied the knowledge and ideas he gained in his Fashion House. New knowledge and skills, multiplied by Dior's work and love for dresses, multiplied fame and financial success.

The fashion house expanded rapidly. Two additional tailoring workshops were opened, followed by the creation and opening of the seven-story Dior factory. Then the nine-story building was rebuilt, then more and more ...

But that was a little later, but for now Dior started to create a second collection. It was more difficult to work with her, because the success of New Look came with a lot of obligations. Buyers, journalists, just customers, were looking forward to what he could surprise and delight them with this time. To deceive their expectations meant to fail, which Dior could not afford.

The second collection from Christian Dior turned out to be even more luxurious and rich, the length of the skirts went down to the ankles, and required even more fabrics. In a dress from this luxurious collection, every girl and woman could feel like a real princess or queen.

This collection was followed by the following seasons, and Christian Dior released more and more new images, gaining popularity far beyond France and European countries. First, customers came from among American women, then the Dior style gained popularity in South America, then customers from Australia, Japan and other countries followed.

Traveling across countries and continents was not always easy. Dior still wanted a calm, serene life, in order to work in silence on the creation of his beautiful dresses, talk with them and with his fashion models, whom he loved very much, calling children. But fame and success, and most importantly the awareness of responsibility before the House of Christian Dior created by him, demanded that Christian obey. He had to leave Paris to go on a journey again and again, where he had to pose for photographers, answer journalists' questions, give press conferences and answer the same questions from ordinary citizens in each country. Questions about the following content - do we have the most beautiful women in our country? How long will the skirts be next season? What fashion trends await us in the next collection?

Visiting different countries, Dior discovered new horizons for himself, everywhere finding something worthy of admiration, but most of all, he was impressed and conquered by America. And despite the fact that Dior did not plan to stay in the USA, and in general he still loved France and Paris most of all, he decided to expand the House of Christian Dior by opening foreign branches.

The first branch opens in New York. This city brought together many successful and wealthy people, as a result, there were many potential customers. Dior is looking for reliable people who can be entrusted with the management of the branch, is looking for premises, and takes part in interior design. But here in New York it was decided to sell collections of dresses, different from the Parisian ones. Even the name of the branch itself says that this is a slightly different line - Christian Dior New York, and they sell not haute couture dresses, but ready-made clothes of the highest quality. Now this segment is called Pret-a-porter De Luxe - an elite segment of the Pret-a-porter line, which is practically on a par with Haute Couture.

Along with the construction of new buildings for Christian Dior in Paris, the opening of branches, the number of images included in the collection also increased. Dior's dresses are still luxurious, but their number has increased, thanks to which the official part
shows included 150-170 or more images.

And these were far from all the dresses made by Dior and his craftswomen! In fact, many more dresses were created, but the best ones were chosen for the show, and at the same time they carried the latest in fashion. Models in doubt, or vice versa, models that have proven themselves well, but not strongly reflecting the most fashionable trends, were shown to buyers and customers after the main part of the show, and also offered for sale in the following days.

The house of Christian Dior strives to present the most complete collection of dresses, taking into account women of different types, so that a tall blonde, a petite brunette, and any other woman can choose the right dress for themselves - a dress that will help everyone to make the most beautiful and desirable woman on earth.

Each Dior collection without fail included a luxurious red dress and, of course, a white wedding dress, which was used to close the show. Thanks to such a number of dresses, the show of the collection took more than an hour and a half.

Collections multiplied, and along with them the Fashion House itself continued to grow, workshops expanded, new buildings were built. In addition to the first mansion, new multi-storey buildings were rebuilt, where the whole floor was assigned to a certain line. For example, perfumery or stockings from Dior. The number of employees grew in proportion to this. More than a thousand people have already worked in the House of Dior. On the one hand, Christian Dior could only rejoice at such a fantastic success, but on the other, this success forever deprived him of his usual way of life, complete peace and serenity. New branches were opened in other countries and continents, the Fashion House required more and more time and effort.

Summing up the results of the creation and formation of the House of Christian Dior, let's think about why some couturiers are more successful, and their name goes down in fashion history, while others cannot even present their collection at fashion weeks, having worked in the industry for many years? Why has Christian Dior created a successful Fashion House, while other designers cannot grow from the framework of a fashion studio to a world-class brand?

Many people think that it is a matter of luck, because in the life of Christian Dior there was a meeting with a powerful industrialist who contributed to the creation of the house of Christian Dior. So only at first glance, but if you look closely at the biography of the couturier, you can see that he always worked harder than others, always loved his work and literally idolized dresses.

The fantastic success of Dior's first collection put the couturier in a position where each subsequent collection had to work more and more, the fashion house expanded and its fame multiplied. Having seen the world and learned a lot in the field of business, Dior streamlines the licensing of the production of his models in various regions of France and around the world, thanks to which the Christian Dior logo quickly appeared in all corners of the world. A great couturier, he went through many difficulties and hardships, he had to overcome himself and circumstances in many ways. At some point, the forces left him, and he passed away. It happened on October 24, 1957, at the age of 52, Christian Dior left our world.

The family house in Granville now houses the Christian Dior Museum.