Denver Art Museum to host Dior retrospective

By

Cassidy Mantor

Published
Sep 22, 2017

The Denver Art Museum will host Dior: From Paris to the World, a survey of 70 years of the House of Dior's global influence and legacy, beginning November of 2018.

The exhibit features a selection of 150 couture dresses as well as accessories and jewelry. Photographs, drawings, runway videos and other archival materials trace the history of the iconic fashion house from its foundation by Christian Dior, through subsequent art directors, up to the present day.

The costume exhibit is curated in chronological order. It showcases key themes in the House of Dior's history and how founder Christian Dior drove the label's success for a decade. It then highlights the work of his successors and how they continued to adapt and reinterpret Dior's aesthetic to remain relevant.

The exhibit highlights how Christian Dior is credited with revitalizing the French fashion industry with his post-war fashion designs. Launched on runways for Spring/Summer of 1947, the New Look consisted of a more feminine silhouette with softer shoulders, accentuated busts and tailored waists. This collection ultimately launched Dior into becoming the first global couture house.

The exhibit then moves on to the Dior work of Yves-Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Raf Simons, and Maria Grazia Chiuri, showing the evolution of Dior over seven decades into the 21st century.

The exhibit is curated by Florence Müller, the Denver Art Museum’s Avenir Foundation Curator of Textile Art and Fashion. Internationally renowned architect Shohei Shigematsu, principal of OMA New York, completed the exhibition design.

Dior: From Paris to the World opens November 18, 2018. It will run through March 3, 2019.