Christian Dior, you've heard the name many times, but who actually was this fashion designer? Christian Dior was an very influential French fashion designer that was born in Normandy, France (1905-1957). He studied political science in college. He then served 2 years in the French Army. After he got out, he opened an art gallery and was an art dealer from 1928-1931. He began his fashion career in Paris, 1935. He then began his fashion design career by selling sketches.

Christian Dior's hat designs were initially more successful than his dress designs. His dress designs were very much liked by some, especially Robert Piguet, who hired him in 1938.

During the great depression, Christian Dior's fashion design talent began to immerge. He the began to work as a fashion illustrator and then as an assistant designer. In 1947, he launched the House of Dior.

For his first collection in 1947, he created the revolutionary "New Look", which featured rounded shoulders, a cinched waist, and the circular skirt, all created in luxurious fabrics. His new look employed fabrics lined predominantly with percale, boned, bustier-style bodices, hip padding, wasp-waisted corsets and petticoats that made his dresses flare out from the waist, giving his models a very curvaceous form. The hem of the skirt was very flattering on the calves and ankles, creating a beautiful silhouette. Christian Dior helped to re-establish Paris as the capital of world-fashion after the war.

Christian Dior became a great dictator of style during the 1950s. Each collection throughout this period had a theme; classic suits, ballerina-length skirts, the H-line in 1954, and A- and Y-lines in 1955.

Dior became superstitous in his later years and every collection that he created included a coat called the Granville (named after his birthplace), at least one model wore a bunch of his favorite flower, lily of the valley, and Dior never began a couture show without having consulted his tarot card reader. Christian Dior's career as a top fashion designer only lasted 10 years (he died in 1957).

The Dior brand has continued to be a designer label we all want to incorporate into our fashion style. Dior fragances that smell so wonderful, Dior womens' fashions and Dior handbags, so we can all still enjoy a bit of Dior in our lives.