Editing Dior (section)

==="New Look" {{anchor|newlook|new_look}} ===
[[File:Christian Dior (Moscow exhibition, 2011) 26.jpg|upright=.69|thumb|"Bar" suit, 1947, displayed in Moscow, 2011]]
On 12 February 1947, Christian Dior launched his first fashion collection for Spring–Summer 1947. The show of "90 models of his first collection on six [[mannequin]]s" was presented in the salons of the company's headquarters at 30 Avenue Montaigne.<ref name="dior"/> Originally, the two lines were named "Corolle" and "Huit".<ref name="dior"/> However, the new collection went down in fashion history as the "''New Look''" after the editor-in-chief of ''[[Harper's Bazaar]]'' [[Carmel Snow]] exclaimed, "It's such a new look!"<ref name="dior"/><ref name="funding"/> The New Look was a revolutionary era for women at the end of the 1940s.<ref name="dior.com">{{Cite web |title=THE NEW LOOK, A LEGEND |url=http://www.dior.com/couture/en_hk/the-house-of-dior/the-story-of-dior/the-new-look-revolution |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328045217/http://www.dior.com/couture/en_hk/the-house-of-dior/the-story-of-dior/the-new-look-revolution |archive-date=2017-03-28 |access-date=2023-07-26 |website=Dior |language=}}</ref> When the collection was presented, the [[editor-in-chief]] also showed appreciation by saying; "It's quite a revolution, dear Christian!"<ref name="dior.com"/> The debut collection of Christian Dior is credited with having revived the fashion industry of France.<ref name=mistry>{{cite magazine |last1=Mistry |first1=Meenal |title=Spring's new look: Sixty-five years ago, Christian Dior started a revolution that's still influencing the designers of today|magazine=Harper's Bazaar|date=1 March 2012}}</ref> Along with that, the New Look brought back the spirit of haute couture in France as it was considered glamorous and young-looking.<ref>Palmer, A., & Palmer, A. (2009). Dior.</ref> "We were witness to a revolution in fashion and to a revolution in showing fashion as well."<ref>Best, K. (2017). The history of fashion journalism. London: Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.</ref>
The silhouette was characterized by a small, nipped-in waist and a full skirt falling below mid-calf length, which emphasized the bust and hips, as epitomized by the "Bar" suit from the first collection.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Golden Age of Couture – Exhibition Highlights: 'Bar' Suit & Hat – Christian Dior|url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1486_couture/exhibHighBarSuit.php|publisher=Victoria & Albert Museum|access-date=13 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125061114/http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1486_couture/exhibHighBarSuit.php|archive-date=25 January 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title="Bar" suit and jacket |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/81460 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222020108/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/C.I.58.34.30_C.I.69.40 |archive-date=2014-02-22 |access-date=2023-07-26 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |language=en}}</ref> The Bar suit was a contribution from the head of Dior's tailoring atelier, a young [[Pierre Cardin]], who was employed by the house from 1947 to 1949.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Cardin First Struck Gold with Suit Made for Dior |journal=The New York Times |date=1958-08-27 |page=22 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/08/07/archives/cardin-first-struck-gold-with-suit-made-for-dior.html |access-date=2023-04-05 |quote=Cocteau and Berard...introduced...Cardin to [Dior,] who was...preparing his first fashion collection...Cardin designed, cut, and made a coat and a suit. He showed them to Dior, who...enrolled him on his team....Cardin spent three...years at Dior...Cardin...designed one of the most successful models...a suit called 'Bar,' which buyers the world over bought. |archive-date=7 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407015530/https://www.nytimes.com/1958/08/07/archives/cardin-first-struck-gold-with-suit-made-for-dior.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The collection overall showcased more stereotypically feminine designs in contrast to the popular fashions of wartime, with full skirts, tight waists, and soft shoulders. Dior retained some of the masculine aspects, as they continued to hold popularity through the early 1940s, but he also wanted to include more feminine style.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vintagedancer.com/1940s/1940s-fashion-history/|title=1940s Fashion History for Women and Men|last=Sessions|first=D.|date=26 June 2017|access-date=21 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180421233504/https://vintagedancer.com/1940s/1940s-fashion-history/|archive-date=21 April 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

The "New Look" became extremely popular, its full-skirted silhouette influencing other fashion designers well into the 1950s, and Dior gained a number of prominent clients from Hollywood, the United States, and the European aristocracy. As a result, Paris, which had fallen from its position as the capital of the fashion world after [[World War II]], regained its preeminence.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/events/how-haute-couture-rescued-war-torn-paris/ |title=How Haute Couture rescued war torn Paris |first=Anne |last=Sebba |date=29 June 2016 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |access-date=11 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212091359/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/events/how-haute-couture-rescued-war-torn-paris/ |archive-date=12 February 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="hcn">{{cite news |url=http://www.hautecouturenews.com/2015/story/christian-dior/ |title=Revolutions in Fashion: Christian Dior |first=Lucy |last=Zotoff |publisher=Haute Couture News |date=25 December 2015 |access-date=11 February 2017 |archive-date=14 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221014192144/http://www.hautecouturenews.com/2015/story/christian-dior/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=How Paris Kept Position in Fashion |journal=The New York Times |date=1981-04-14 |page=B19 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/14/style/how-paris-kept-position-in-fashion.html |access-date=2022-04-04 |quote=Dior's bombshell brought manufacturers as well as store buyers rushing back to the City of Light as they sought to interpret his inspirational designs for their own clients....Throughout the 1950s, Paris was acclaimed as the source of fashion, and Dior's success helped stave off the development of other independent style centers for at least a decade. |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405091952/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/14/style/how-paris-kept-position-in-fashion.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The New Look was welcomed in western Europe as a refreshing antidote to the austerity of wartime and de-feminizing uniforms, and was embraced by stylish women such as [[Princess Margaret]] in the UK.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Skacenko |first=Margarita |date=2024-03-14 |title=Christian Dior’s New Look - The History and Evolution |url=https://glamobserver.com/the-history-and-evolution-of-christian-diors-new-look/ |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=GLAM OBSERVER |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mower |first=Sarah |date=2019-01-30 |title=Christian Dior, “Designer of Dreams,” Wows London—All Over Again |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/christian-dior-victoria-and-albert |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=Vogue |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Clinton |first=Leah Melby |date=2014-10-28 |title=Today's Princesses Can Thank THIS Designer, Who Invented Modern Royal Style |url=https://www.glamour.com/story/christian-dior-princess-margaret |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=Glamour |language=en-US}}</ref> According to [[Harold Koda]], Dior credited [[Charles James (designer)|Charles James]] with inspiring The New Look.<ref name="The Costume Institute Previews 'Charles James: Beyond Fashion'">{{cite web |url=http://www.wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-features/the-costume-institute-previews-charles-james-beyond-fashion-7437029?src=n/newsAlert/20140211-3 |title=The Costume Institute Previews 'Charles James: Beyond Fashion' |publisher=WWD |date=11 February 2014 |access-date=12 February 2014 |author=Feitelberg, Rosemary |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226054834/http://www.wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-features/the-costume-institute-previews-charles-james-beyond-fashion-7437029?src=n%2FnewsAlert%2F20140211-3 |archive-date=26 February 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> Dior's designs from the "New Look" did not only affect the designers in the 1950s, but also more recent designers in the 2000s, including Thom Browne, Miuccia Prada, and Vivienne Westwood. Dior's evening dresses from that time are still referred to by many designers, and they have been seen in different wedding themed catwalks with multiple layers of fabric building up below the small waist (Jojo, 2011). Examples include Vivienne Westwood's Ready-to-Wear Fall/Winter 2011 and Alexander McQueen's Ready to Wear Fall/Winter 2011 (Jojo, 2011).{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}

Not everyone was pleased with the New Look, however. Some considered the amount of material to be wasteful, especially after years of cloth rationing.<ref>[[Rationing in the United Kingdom|The United Kingdom endured severe rationing]] for many years after World War II ended. According to the [https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/8-facts-about-clothes-rationing-in-britain-during-the-second-world-war Imperial War Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230523025344/https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/8-facts-about-clothes-rationing-in-britain-during-the-second-world-war |date=23 May 2023 }}, the government stopped clothes rationing in March 1949.</ref> Feminists in particular were outraged, feeling that these [[corset]]ed designs were restrictive and regressive, and that they took away a woman's independence.<ref name="DW">{{cite news | url=http://www.dw.com/en/the-new-look-how-christian-dior-revolutionized-fashion-70-year-ago/a-37491236 | title=The New Look: How Christian Dior revolutionized fashion 70 year [sic] ago | first=Jan | last=Tomes | publisher=Deutsche Welle | date=10 February 2017 | access-date=11 February 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211000704/http://www.dw.com/en/the-new-look-how-christian-dior-revolutionized-fashion-70-year-ago/a-37491236 | archive-date=11 February 2017 | url-status=live }}</ref> There were several protest groups against the designs including, the League of Broke Husbands, made up of 30,000 men who were against the costs associated with the amount of fabric needed for such designs. Fellow designer [[Coco Chanel]] remarked, "Only a man who never was intimate with a woman could design something that uncomfortable."<ref name="hcn" /> Despite such protests, the New Look was highly influential, continuing to inform the work of other [[designer]]s and fashion well into the 21st century.<ref name="mistry" /> For the 60th anniversary of the New Look in 2007, John Galliano revisited it for his Spring-Summer collection for Dior.<ref name="alexander">{{cite news |last1=Alexander |first1=Hilary |title=Galliano's new look at the New Look |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1540325/Gallianos-new-look-at-the-New-Look.html |access-date=20 April 2017 |work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London |date=23 January 2007 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170421003744/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1540325/Gallianos-new-look-at-the-New-Look.html |archive-date=21 April 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> Galliano used the wasp waist and rounded shoulders, modernised and updated with references to [[origami]] and other Japanese influences.<ref name="alexander" /> In 2012 [[Raf Simons]] revisited the New Look for his debut haute couture collection for Dior, wishing to update its ideas for the 21st century in a minimalist but also sensual and sexy manner.<ref name="mistry" /><ref name="menkes">{{cite news|last1=Menkes|first1=Suzy|title=At Dior, a Triumph of 21st Century Modernism|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/29/fashion/29iht-fdior29.html|access-date=20 April 2017|work=The New York Times|date=28 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420145748/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/29/fashion/29iht-fdior29.html|archive-date=20 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Simons's work for Dior retained the luxurious fabrics and silhouette, but encouraged self-respect for the woman's body and liberation of expression.<ref name="menkes" /> The design process for this collection, which was produced in only eight weeks, is documented in ''[[Dior and I]]'', presenting Simons's use of technology and modernist re-interpretations.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Lemire|first1=Christy|title=Dior and I Movie Review & Film Summary (2015)|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/dior-and-i-2015|website=Roger Ebert|publisher=Ebert Digital|access-date=20 April 2017|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420234841/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/dior-and-i-2015|archive-date=20 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>