Christian Dior

Christian Dior (21 January 1905 – 23 October 1957) was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, also called Christian Dior. 

Early life

Christian Dior was born in Granville, a seaside town on the coast of Normandy, France, the second of the five children of Maurice Dior, a wealthy fertilizer manufacturer (the family firm was Dior Frères), and his wife, the former Isabelle Cardamone. He had four siblings: Raymond , Jacqueline, Bernard, and Ginette (aka Catherine). When Christian was about five years old, the family moved to Paris, France, but still returned to the Normandy coast for summer vacations.

Dior's family had hopes he would become a diplomat, but Dior was artistic and wished to be involved in art. He was gay, though not openly so. To make money, he sold his fashion sketches outside his house for about 10 cents each. In 1928, Dior left school and received money from his father to finance a small art gallery, where he and a friend sold art by the likes of Pablo Picasso. Three years later, after the death of Dior's mother and brother and a financial disaster in the family’s fertilizer business, during the Great Depressio, that resulted in his father losing control of Dior Frères, the gallery had to be closed. 

The Christian Dior Home and Museum in Granville (Manche), France.

On December 16, 1946 Dior founded his fashion house, backed by Marcel Boussac, a cotton-fabric magnate. The actual name of the line of his first collection, presented in early 1947, was Corolle (literally the botanical term corolla or circlet of flower petals in English), but the phrase New Look was coined for it by Carmel Snow, the editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar. Dior's designs were more voluptuous than the boxy, fabric-conserving shapes of the recent World War II styles, influenced by the rations on fabric. He was a master at creating shapes and silhouettes; Dior is quoted as saying "I have designed flower women." His look employed fabrics lined predominantly with percale, boned, bustier-style bodices, hip padding, wasp-waisted corsets and petticoats that made his dresses flare out from the waist, giving his models a very curvaceous form.

Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly referred to as Louis Vuitton, or shortened to LV, is a French fashion house founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ranging from luxury trunks and leather goods to ready-to-wear, shoes, watches, jewelry, accessories, sunglasses, and books. Louis Vuitton is one of the world's leading international fashion houses; it sells its products through standalone boutiques, lease departments in high-end department tores, and through the e-commerce section of its website.For six consecutive years (2006–2012) Louis Vuitton has been named the world's most valuable luxury brand. Its 2012 valuation is 25.9 billion USD. 

Founding to World War II

The Louis Vuitton label was founded by Vuitton in 1854 on Rue Neuve des Capucines in Paris, France. Louis Vuitton had observed that the HJ Cave Osilite trunk could be easily stacked and in 1858, Vuitton introduced his flat-bottom trunks with trianon canvas, making them lightweight and airtight. Before the introduction of Vuitton's trunks, rounded-top trunks were used, generally to promote water run off, and thus could not be stacked. It was Vuitton's gray Trianon canvas flat trunk that allowed the ability to stack with ease for voyages. Many other luggagemakers imitated LV's style and design.

Louis Vuitton (4 August 1821 – 27 February 1892), was a French businessman. He was the founder of the Louis Vuitton brand of leather goods now owned by LVMH . Prior to this, he had been appointed as trunk-maker to Empress Eugénie de Montijo, wife of Napoleon.

Chanel

Gabrielle "Coco" Bonheur Chanel (August 19, 1883 – January 10, 1971) as a French fashion designer and founder of the Chanel brand. She was the only fashion designer to appear on Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Along with Paul Poiret, Chanel was credited with liberating women from the constraints of the "corseted silhouette" and popularizing the acceptance of a sportive, casual chic as the feminine standard in the post-World War I era. A prolific fashion creator, Chanel's influence extended beyond couture clothing. Her design aesthetic was realized in jewelry, handbags, and fragrance. Her signature scent, Chanel No. 5 has become an iconic product.

 

Historically, the House of Chanel is most famous for the stylistically versatile “little black dress”, the perfume No. 5 de Chanel and the Chanel Suit. Its brands have been personified by fashion models and actresses, including Inès de la Fressange, Catherine Deneuve, Carole Bouquet, Vanessa Paradis, Nicole Kidman, Anna Mouglalis, Lucía Hiriart, Audrey Tautou, Keira Knightley and Marilyn Monroe, who epitomize the independent, self-confident Chanel Girl. At the height of her stardom in 1952, Marilyn Monroe once said she wore just a few drops of Chanel No. 5 to bed.




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the 1920s, the simple-line designs of Chanel couture made popular the “flat-chested” fashions that were the opposite of the hourglass-figure achieved by the fashions of the late 19th century — the Belle Époque of France (ca. 1890–1914), and the British Edwardian Era (ca. 1901–1919). Beyond comfort, Chanel's clothes applied the suppleness of to allow the woman an active style of life. Colour-wise, Chanel used traditionally masculine colours, such as grey and navy blue, to connote feminine boldness of character. The clothes of the House of Chanel featured quilted fabric and leather trimmings; the quilted construction reinforces the fabric, the design and the finish, producing a garment that maintains its form and function while being worn. The notable example of such haute couture techniques is the woolen Chanel Suit — a knee-length skirt and a cardigan-style jacket, trimmed and decorated with black embroidery and gold-coloured buttons. The complementary accessories were two-tone pump shoes and jewellry (gemstone and bijouterie), usually a necklace of pearls, and a leather handbag.

 

 

 

 

The great financial, commercial, and cultural successes of perfume No. 5 increased public recognition of the House of Chanel, desire for its haute couture designs, demand for its prêt-à-porter clothes, and enhanced the artistic reputation of the couturière Coco Chanel; and, in lean times, perfume kept Chanel solvent. In September 2012 a Paris court overturned a 2009 ruling and fined Chanel, saying the house had designed a vest that was a "slavish copy" of a crochet design by the local knitwear company, World Tricot.