In celebration of the seventieth anniversary of the House of Dior, one of the most prestigious couture houses in the world, the National Gallery of Victoria will present the never-before-seen exhibition The House of Dior: Seventy Years of Haute Couture at NGV International from 27 August to 7 November, 2017.
Exclusive to Melbourne, the exhibition is a collaboration between the NGV and the House of Dior, and will feature a sumptuous display of over 140 garments from Christian Dior Couture designed 1947 to 2017.
The exhibition will narrate the rich history of the fashion house, including Christian Dior’s early influences, the design codes synonymous with Dior, as well as the milestones of its six successive designers following Christian Dior’s sudden death in 1957, including the esteemed designers Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Raf Simons and Maria-Grazia Chiuri.
The exhibition will also explore Dior’s unique affinity with Australia, including the historic Spring 1948 fashion parade at David Jones, Sydney, where House models wore fifty original creations by Christian Dior. This is considered the first complete Dior collection to be shown outside of Paris.
NGV Director Tony Ellwood says that the exhibition will be a celebration of Dior’s most iconic moments, “The exhibition will invite Australian and international audiences to discover some of the most significant couture designs of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.”
Speaking on the exhibition, Chief Executive of Christian Dior Couture, Sidney Toledano says, “It is a great pleasure and honour for the House of Dior to be celebrating its anniversary in 2017 in Melbourne. The exhibition will be the biggest Dior retrospective ever held in Australia.”
Drawing primarily on material from the House of Dior archive in Paris and the NGV collection, the exhibition will also feature accessories, sketches, photographs, haute couture toiles, multimedia and archival material.
The exhibition opening will be celebrated with the inaugural NGV Gala, a ticketed, black-tie ball on Saturday 26 August 2017. The proceeds from this event will go toward supporting the NGV Fashion and Textiles Collection.
The House of Dior: Seventy Years of Haute Couture will be at NGV International, 180 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Australia from 27 August – 7 November 2017. Tickets are on sale now via the NGV website
Watch this 1949 film clip showing archival footage of the Christian Dior story
The Christian Dior Story from NGV on Vimeo.
