Christian Dior: the Biography

by Marie-France Pochna

A lavishly illustrated portrait of the acclaimed French designer cites his pivotal contributions to women's fashion and establishing Paris's role as an industry leader, in an account that documents his career and achievements as reflected by more than half a century's worth of designs for famous celebrities and aristocrats. 15,000 first printing.

Genres: Fashion, Nonfiction, Biography, Business, Audiobook, Biography Memoir, Art

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Meridith · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Dior? He doesn't dress women. He drapes them." Chanel

This book is a biography of the designer comprehensive enough to give much-needed context. It evokes the postwar mood of sacrifice and deprivation that set the stage for the fashion revolution of 1947. Dior's New Look--his celebration of women as figures of exuberant frivolity swathed in tens of yards of fabric--famously caused riots in the streets of Paris, pitting classes against each another, and more importantly, midwifing the modern world of fashion, celebrity and idolatry of the artist that we know so well today. Socialites as models, self-congratulatory awards, the birth of retail as we know it, not to mention the burgeoning influence of merchants on design--all are ideas that got their start with the New Look show of 1947.

And, this book is chock-full of gossip, just how I like 'em.

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

[Prometheus Worley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Understanding the legend that is Dior...

Marie France Pochna did an amazing job descriptively detailing the extraordinary life of Christian Dior. As if to be a proverbial fly on the wall witnessing some of the most fascinating moments which shaped his life, the author transports you back into Dior's somewhat exciting formative years. His numerous interactions with many notable persons like Jacques Cocteau, Balenciaga, wealthy industrialists, princesses, and artists alike, are literally brought to life through the magnificent narration of Nadia May. I honestly have to say... I learned so much more about Dior "the man" from this title, more than any other Dior biography I've read thus far.

It really was a pleasure to listen to the audio version of the book.... Even if you're not into historical fashion narratives or autobiographies, this is a title that delivers on both, exciting information and engaging content!!!... I highly recommend it 👍

[Vanya Prodanova · Rating 2 out of 5]

Явно Кристиан Диор е бил малък злобен французин с мания за величие, но пък с нюх за бизнес. :Р

Тази книга не беше най-подходящата според мен да се запозная с живота на Кристиан Диор, тъй като стилът на авторката ми беше доста неприятен. Твърде много поетични и лирични отклонения. Едно стотина страници могат да бъдат премахнати и книгата само ще спечели от това.

Отделно, авторката уж позитивно говори за Диор, ама усещането, което на мен ми предаде, беше доста двузначно и повече към негативното. Уж, обичал всичките си работници, ама само когато му изнася. Уж скромен, ама обичал вниманието. Не знам, като се пишат такива автобиографии, според мен авторът трябва да заеме неутрална позиция, а не да се лушка между харесвам го - не го харесвам.

[Corina Vatafu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive and thoroughly documented depiction of Christian Dior's life, from childhood until his final day.
For me, this novel is divided into two parts:
1st one - describing CD's life before the foundation of House of Dior: this part was rather mentioning too many names and figures that CD has encountered in his life, referencing people that could easily have been left out of the story. I was thinking to rate the book 3* max while reading this part;
2nd one - from the moment House of Dior is founded: now starts the real deal, the story is a lot better built and descibred, CD's life story grew a lot on me and a lot of emotions came by as I was advancing through the story. Enjoyed it more and more and by the end of it I was eager to research more about CD, search for videos and pictures and additional interviews.

Great lecture for those interested in learning not only about CD, but also about how he built an empire and scaled a business as it was never done before. The perfect mix between an artist and an entrepreneur.

[Roberta Westwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly good

This was an interesting biography in that the author didn’t know much about her subject before she decided to start researching… it made me wonder if she could possibly write as thorough a piece as someone who knew him, worked in the industry, or had at least had a lifelong fascination with the man. It was ok, but Dior never really came alive to me, and I think this may be why.

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conocer la vide de Christian Dior, el hombre que cambió el mundo de la moda después de la II Guerra Mundial, es fascinante. Es una vida llena de contrastes entre el trabajo duro y la superstición. Recomendada esta lectura.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beyond loving Dior's creations, this was a wonderful history of where he came from and how he got started. I was unaware of just how influential he was in changing the fashion industry and its practices on a global basis in numerous ways. Interesting read.

[Maria Dovnar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing story about struggle and victory in the history of art.

[Doris Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

very englitening

[Jason Kivela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously I knew the label, but nothing about the man. Great information on his life, success and the industry. Awesome that the book didn’t gloss over his homosexuality.

[Christina Barzdukas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very elegantly put and explorative of all Dior's angles.

[Caspar Vega · Rating 4 out of 5]

Legend.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable book. Creatively and beautifully written, informative and so interesting.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this telling of Diors life story. I did feel like to much name dropping was used as filler repeatedly however. It was nice to learn the way Dior over came hardships and went on to create the house of Dior. As a teen Diors Poison was my favorite perfume.

[Laura Eppinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, conversational style I imagine guides the original French text and is warmly translated into English by Joanna Swill. This was a sunbathing read that gave me lots of fun little anecdotes to tell at parties. ("Did you know THE Dior family, before Christian, was locally famous for chemical manufacturing and when their factory run-off made their local town stink, folks said, 'Oh look it's Dior weather again' " ?!)

[Yvonne Ellett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book isn't so remarkable about Christian Dior the man as much as offering insight into Christian Dior the business man. Everything that fashion is today -- licensing, status branding, multi-continent marketing -- is something that CD invented. The author gives a good sense of his lifetime's period without getting overly side-tracked with the movie stars and royalty that favored his clothing. She also does a good job of describing pre- thru post-depression era Europe through Dior's friendships with some of the most famous artists, musicians, and writers of that time. He was someone who understood beauty and was able to create it, seemingly, from thin air. Ultimately you get a feel for a man who was very far ahead of his time who painstakingly maintained every discretion necessary for the times.

[₵oincidental Ðandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contextually speaking, a very good & informative biography (4 stars). My only criticism - & pet peeve, with any book - are the careless punctuation, spacing & spelling errors throughout (the surname of [designer] Pierre Balmain, for instance, is spelled "Balimain" at one point & "Balrriain" at another - totally negligent). Such careless mistakes inevitably convey the impression that the book was rushed through publication, without much regard to proof-reading.

But I'm not so quick to lay the blame squarely at the author's feet. Originally published in French, the English print is a translation; I strongly suspect that all the avoidable & clumsy errors may well have occurred during the translation process which was probably rushed through, as it likely seems. Such a pity. It is simultaneously vexing & marring.

[Renata · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ši knyga apie kuklų, turintį griežtus profesinius standartus ir išskirtiniu dėmesiu kokybei žmogų, kuriam pavyko pažadinti prancūzų pokario madą iš letargo miego bei tuom sužavėti amerikiečius.
Skaitėsi lėtokai, buvo įdomesnių ir ne tokių įdomių vietų, bet knyga - vertinga norint pažinti ne tik patį Diorą, bet ir jo sukurtą verslo modelį bei mados etiketą.
Labai pasigedau nuotraukų, nes nei vienos nebuvo, kas yra įprasta biografijoms.
Perskaičius susimąsčiau, kas svarbiau - asmeninė laimė ar sėkmė mylimoje veikloje? ar gyvenime abu dalykus galima turėti?...

[Francesca Penchant · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a beautiful tribute to a design genius. I loved learning about Dior's comfortable French childhood designing fanciful carnival costumes, that was to shape his later love of feminine frivolity. This book made me appreciate Dior's influence on 20th- and 21st-century fashion--as well as his business genius that introduced licensing as an important part of all haute couture businesses to come.

[Linawings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Историята на живота на Кристиан Диор определено е впечатляваща - в нея не трагизмът е водещ, а посланието, че талантът и стремежът към красота е неизбежно да се проявят, независимо от историческите премеждия на времето и собствената възраст. Впечатли ме портретът на Диор като ненатрапчив творчески гений със свои малки екстравагантности, но здраво стъпил на земята и заобиколен от верен приятелски кръг, благодарение на който се справя с предизвикателствата на таланта, времето и страстите си.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

His life spanned two serious economic downturns in the world, the stock exchange collapse of '29 and WW2. I'm learning so much from his periods of scarcity, perhaps more than any other courturier he has influenced my interest and enjoyment of the elegant arts.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was surprisingly very touching without being sentimental, and does a good job at describing the fashion industry at the time when Dior's star was rising. However, it was much too long and many details could (and should) have been omitted.

[Ravi Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written, very informative, good pictures from what is obviously Dior's private collection. A very good insight into what were Dior's origins, his family background and how the world took to Dior. I would say this is the seminal work on Dior, do not bother to read anything else.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book before the exhibit at the DAM of Dior's work. I was really glad I read it because I learned so much about his life which explains his genius in designing clothes. His genius exceeds his life, there is still a house of Dior.

[Yankokirkov]

Yan