The house of Dior may be synonymous with Parisian chic, but the seeds of the designer’s creative consciousness can be found in a dwelling of the brick-and-mortar kind at Christian Dior’s childhood home: Les Rhumbs, or Compass Rose, situated in Granville, Normandy.
Built at the end of the 19th century, this Belle Epoque cliff-top dwelling is said to have influenced Dior’s work, with its soft pink facade and its heady rose garden planted in 1920 by Dior’s mother, Madeleine, as a breaker to the sea winds. Having inherited her love of gardening, Dior would go on to create dresses for what he called “flower-like women.”
The family lost the home in 1931 when Dior’s father, Maurice, went bankrupt during the onset of the European economic crash. But in 1997, having been reclaimed by the town, the house was transformed into a museum shrine to its famous former occupant.
It now contains personal objects that belonged to the designer, such as the daily diary he kept in 1947, the founding year of his house, as well as his cutting scissors. Clothing and accessories from the House of Dior from the beginning to the current couturier, John Galliano, are on display throughout its three stories.
A new exhibition has been staged every year since the museum’s opening, culminating in “Christian Dior, Homme du Siècle,” or “Man of the Century,” in 2005, a major show that celebrated the influences of Dior’s youth on his fashion career. The event was in honor of the 100th anniversary of Dior’s birth. “Because we’re dealing with fragile garments, it’s important to rotate themes every four months or so,” said associate curator Barbara Jeauffroy, who is putting the finishing touches on the museum’s upcoming show, which is based upon Dior’s house codes. It will run May 13 through Sept. 22.
Nine Dior codes will be represented, and the house’s signature pink and gray theme will open the show on the ground floor.
Cases of color-themed accessories will be on display, including shoes by Roger Vivier for Dior, scarves and jewelry from the Opera Garnier that “could have served as inspiration to John Galliano,” according to Jeauffroy.
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Here’s a rundown on the codes:
l The Rose: One of Dior’s favorite flowers and hues, inspired by his mother’s rose garden. It was picked up by John Galliano for his Belle Epoque Theodora dress for Dior’s spring 1997 collection. The gown had a bouquet of flowers, one of them a red rose, at the neck.
l Panther: Dior’s eccentric muse, Mitzah Bricard, liked to dress in various shades of lilac and was never without her panther print foulard that she wore tied at her wrist to hide a scar.
l Lily of the Valley: Dior’s fetish flower, known as muguet in French. The designer would offer his clients bouquets of lily of the valley each May 1 and was known to tuck good-luck sprigs into the fold of each couture dress before it was unveiled. Dior dedicated an entire line to the flower in 1954.
l Cannage (cane work): “Dior never used this code. It was invented by Gianfranco Ferré in homage to the wicker chairs used by Dior,” said Jeauffroy. The pattern also worked its way onto the house’s iconic Lady Dior bag, released in 1996.
l Houndstooth: Dior’s love of the houndstooth print, along with tennis stripes and Prince of Wales checks, surfaced in his fondness for masculine-feminine styles.
l Lucky Star: One object on display at the museum is Dior’s lucky star, which he found in the street after it fell off the wheel of a horse cart. He had it reproduced in gold.
l Dots: From Dior’s first show in 1947, dots were ever present in the designer’s collections. “He used dots in mainly gay colors or in black and white when he wanted a chic edge,” said Jeauffroy.
l Noeud Fontanges (Fontanges Bow): The story goes that in the 17th century, the Duchess of Fontanges got her hair caught while riding with King Louis XIV and his entourage. She used a garter belt to rectify the damage, tying it in a loose bow. This nonchalant bow surfaced as a leitmotif across Dior’s collections, used as a stamp in his shoes, for example, and as a logo on the packaging of his perfume bottles. It also was featured on Galliano’s Zobeide dress unveiled at the Opera Garnier in 1998.