Here’s Your VIP Tour Inside The Christian Dior: The Designer of Dreams Exhibition
The Middle East’s first-ever exhibit dedicated to the reverie-inspiring Maison itself
“I think of my work as ephemeral architecture, dedicated to the beauty of the female body,” said Christian Dior in his 1957 autobiography Dior by Dior, adding that not following his deep-rooted passion for architecture was among his greatest faiblesses.
Little did he know, however, that he would be revered for decades to come as the architect of dreams, weaving together a history of art and fashion with swathes of satin and shimmering crystals.
Inside The Christian Dior: The Designer of Dreams Exhibition
Testament to Dior’s life’s work and his imprint on haute couture and female expression, Christian Dior: The Designer of Dreams will open at Qatar’s M7 located in Msheireb Downtown Doha on November 6th, the first-ever Dior exhibit to be showcased in the Middle East and the most monumental Dior event to unfold in the region since the 2019 circus-themed Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2019 runway show was brought to Dubai’s Safa Park.
Originally curated to celebrate the Maison’s 70th anniversary, the stunning retrospective first opened in Paris’ Musée des Arts Décoratifs in 2017. Iterations of the exhibition followed in prominent museums such as the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Long Museum West Bund in Shanghai, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chendgu, as well as the Brooklyn Museum, New York in September 2021.
In collaboration with Qatar Museums, the latest version of the exhibit was curated by Musée des Arts Décoratifs director Olivier Gabet, who illustrates the history of the Parisian house, the art it has nurtured over the years, the historic epochs it has triumphed and its legacy, in a lavish display and adapted to the Middle Eastern region’s cultural fabric.
The showcase includes some of the founder’s post-World War II designs, such as a sweeping, strapless evening gown in golden taffeta from the haute couture Spring/Summer 1950 collection, and well as an opulent coat-dress fashioned with authentic brocade from the pre-French revolutionary period of the 1750s. Other treasures abound, such as a Marc Bohan for Christian Dior lamé, silk embroidered evening gown that belonged to the Duchess of Windsor and an evening kaftan in Marescot tulle, embroidered with chenille, beads and rhinestones from the 1966 Autumn/Winter couture collection. A number of iconic pieces from the fashion house will also be on display, including versions of the Lady Dior bag reinterpreted for the Dior Lady Art project.
Bringing a bit of Dior’s origins at 30 Avenue Montaigne and the enchantment of Versailles and its gardens directly to Doha’s desert shores, the exhibit also pays tribute to Dior’s successors, from Yves Saint Laurent and Italian designer Gianfranco Ferré to British-Gibraltarian designer John Galliano, Belgian designer Raf Simons and Dior’s current womens’ artistic director, Maria Grazia Chiuri among them.
Christian Dior: The Designer of Dreams will run until March 31st 2022.
Images: Laziz Hamani, Courtesy of Dior.
From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s November 2021 issue