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Apparel and accessories

Christian Dior releases archived documentary on how namesake founder put together 1949 autumn/winter collection

April 30, 2020

Christian Dior at work on his autumn:winter 1949 collection, as seen in the documentary of the same year titled "Haute Couture." Image credit: Christian Dior Christian Dior at work on his autumn/winter 1949 collection, as seen in the documentary of the same year titled "Haute Couture." Image credit: Christian Dior

 

Digging through the archives is becoming art for luxury brands as they seek to keep their audiences engaged with their history, heritage and house values.

France’s LVMH, the largest luxury conglomerate, is incredibly fortunate that it can mine the past of its 75-plus brands and find footage, recordings and photos that bring to life the maisons’ past.

To lighten the mood during these COVID-19 lockdowns worldwide, LVMH couturier Christian Dior has released a documentary just shy of 14 minutes on the founder’s approach to work.

The Duchess of Windsor arriving at the Christian Dior autumn/winter 1949 collection show. Image credit: Christian Dior The Duchess of Windsor arriving at the Christian Dior autumn/winter 1949 collection show. Image credit: Christian Dior

The 1949 film, titled simply “Haute-Couture,” was directed by Henri A. Lavorel and is colorized to let viewers into the late Dior’s world and his life at 30 Avenue Montaigne atelier in Paris.

Viewers get to see how the autumn/winter 1949 collection was put together, with not much drama, a bit of understatement and dollops of class. And that is how the New Look came into being.

The world of Christian Dior in his own words as he puts together the autumn/winter 1949 collection