Dior: New Look cover
French fashion house Dior is adding another book to its extensive library to retrace the evolution of its signature silhouette and revolutionary look.
Dior’s latest “Dior: New Looks,” was published by London’s Thames & Hudson and was written by Jérôme Gautier, a journalist and expert on fashion history and photography. Dior: New Looks looks at the photographers that have captured the heritage of Dior through its designs as a way to explore its impact on the fashion industry from an outsider’s lens.
Through the lens
The 304-page tome tells the story of Dior through the photographers that cataloged the brand’s achievements beginning in 1947 when the “New Look” was born when brand founder Christian Dior posed for a “sober and strikingly modern snapshot” taken by photographer Irving Penn.
It was during 1947 as well that photographer Richard Avedon first visited Paris and began immortalizing the House of Dior. Mr. Avedon is the subject of his own book, “Dior by Avedon,” released by Dior in September, which explores his 30-year relationship with the brand (see story).
Dior: New Looks includes brand photography taken by major photographers of yesteryear and today to track the history of Dior through imagery that lets the clothing speak for itself.
Dior: New Looks cover, published by Thames & Hudson
Images included in the tome were taken by Mr. Avedon in 1962 notably of the salons on 30 Avenue Montaigne and photos of the atelier snapped by Patrick Demarchelier.
Also, images capture the evolution of Dior’s silhouettes and the art of posing using “Dovima and the Elephants” by Mr. Avedon and Willy Vanderperre’s photographs of creative director Raf Simons’ women’s wear collections. Notable muses of Dior that appear in the Dior: New Look book include Mitzah Bricard as photographed by Cecil Beaton and Marion Cotillard by Jean-Baptiste Mondino.
The included photography ranges from iconic to little-known to truly show the trajectory of the Dior Look as communicated by the world’s best photographers.
Dior: New Look went on sale in the United Kingdom on Oct. 19 with French and German releases in that days following. The tome will go on sale in the United States market on Nov. 17 with a retail asking price of $150.