Designer of Dreams: Was the V&A’s exhibition of Christian Dior worth all the hype?

Article by Lili Jones

Edited by Grace Kennedy

 

For anyone remotely interested in fashion, the V&A’s Christian Dior exhibition offered an Aladdin’s cave of rare couture pieces, film, photography and insight into one of the world’s most influential fashion houses of all time. After queuing for over an hour to get my hands on one of the day release tickets to the sold-out event, I wanted to see if it was worth all the hype and if Dior really was a ‘designer of dreams.’

 

Couture as a whole seems shrouded in glitz, glamour and secrecy: known and worn by the few and gawked at by the many. In exhibiting 200 couture gowns and displaying the creative journey of production: from the idea, to the sketch, the mock-up dresses and then the final products I feared maybe some of the mystery that makes couture so tantalising would be lost. I could not have been more wrong. While the dresses themselves were breathtaking, it was their curation and display that truly romanticised them, making them even more ethereal than they seemed on a runway.

 Christian Dior always envisioned himself as an architect and through his designs he was. He simply constructed in fabric rather than brick, making art that could be lived in much like a home. Therefore, it was only fitting that the architectural nature of the dresses be manifested within the ethereal sets constructed to house the gowns in the V&A’s exhibition. Each set, though exquisite, elevated rather than detracted from the dresses themselves. In the garden room, the lilac flowers and overhead canopy of flora highlighted the inspiration each of the Dior designers had taken from nature. The setting added an innocence and organic beauty to the dresses, placing them within the clouds: transporting the viewers away from the crowds and into land of beauty.  The use of space and general flow of the exhibition made it feel as if you were being guided by Dior himself into his dreamscape, much like a modern day fairy-godmother leading you towards the final room of the exhibition: a ballroom fit for Cinderella, housing some of the Fashion house’s most significant looks worn on todays red carpets. While the dresses were within touching distance, the stage-like setting cast them as otherworldly. This fairytale-like wonderment was thus, a partnership constructed by both the ‘designer of dreams’ and the V&A.

The exhibition was not a ghostly gallery of Dior’s works paying homage to success gone-by but rather the immersive sets framed Dior’s story much like a modern fairytale in thread. Beginning with a film noir styled celebration of his ‘New Look’ collection the exhibition flipped between  an 18th century French courtyard; a fairy garden; ballroom and dark stage lit spaces between each of these where it was the ornateness and colour of the dresses that showcased them more like art than clothing. Unlike when on school trips you would walk up and down vast galleries aimlessly unsure of the room’s intention, the curation of the Dior exhibition gave a clear narrative as it funneled the crowds through smaller spaces, framing the dresses as part of a larger social context.  Dior’s revolutionary ‘New Look’ collection was predated by years of warfare and rationing, where clothing’s most essential aim was functionality. Dior’s response in the post-wartime climate was to create structured silhouettes with defined waists and full-bodied skirts. The indulgent use of fabric celebrated both the end of hardship and served to redefine beauty within the female form.

Christian Dior launched his label in 1947 and each appointment of his successors has brought a new take and freshness to the House of Dior. One aspect of the exhibition celebrated this transition across leaders explicitly paying homage to each in turn. However, while their other works were credited outside of this space throughout the rest of the exhibition, they did not appear separately but rather as an assortment, grouped together by themes they all shared or inspirations taken rather than by whom had overseen their creation. In this way it seemed to showcase and celebrate Dior as a house rather than as a collection of individual leaders. While one could start to spot key trademarks of each designer’s style within the group, Galliano for example would be hard to mistake, it also showed the enduring commitment to Dior’s original ambition to redefine the way women dressed.

The exhibition was not simply a celebration of Christina Dior himself but the unified mission of the house as a whole to celebrate female form and beauty. The brand has arguably grown beyond Dior himself. His dreams have become a reality far larger than anyone could have predicted as his work continues to influence and shape fashion almost a century on. Having never really understood Dior’s significance in comparison to other big fashion houses, I wasn’t sure if the exhibition would be for me or if it was just an overhyped ‘instagramable’ production. However, after seeing how beautifully it was put together and the impact the house has had on both society and the fashion world, I can confirm it was definitely worth the hype and I would go back into the world of dreams tomorrow if I could. 

Photography credits: The Victoria and Albert Museum