Dior’s Iconic Bar Jacket Inspires Anew

Dior’s Iconic Bar Jacket Inspires Anew

In December 1946, in the midst of a postwar Parisian society that was still rationing, Christian Dior opened his atelier in a four-story hôtel particulier at 30 Avenue Montaigne. A few months later, on a cold February morning, the designer presented his first haute couture collection in the townhouse’s Trianon gray Louis XVI-style salons to an audience of buyers and fashion editors. “In 1947, after so many years of wandering,” Dior writes in his 1956 autobiography, “couture was weary of only catering [to] painters and poets, and wanted to revert to its true function, of clothing women and enhancing their beauty.” The clothes he designed, as he puts it, were “for flowerlike women, with rounded shoulders, full feminine busts and hand-span waists.” Among the silhouettes in his debut Corolle line (named after the botanical term for flower petals), one in particular stood out: the Bar Jacket. Constructed in cream silk shantung, the veste was sculpted to fit snugly above a narrow waist, then flare into a scalloped basque, which was meticulously padded, stiffened and weighted to accentuate the hipline. Paired with a very full skirt, it was dubbed the New Look by the press — and set off a sartorial revolution.

The now-iconic Bar Jacket has since been reinterpreted by all of Dior’s creative directors, most recently Maria Grazia Chiuri, who in 2016 became the first woman to lead the house. Since then, she’s softened the jacket’s original silhouette by reworking the interfacing, and has reimagined it in prints ranging from camouflage to leopard jacquard. In 2019, she even commissioned the American artist Mickalene Thomas and the British designer Grace Wales Bonner to re-envision the jacket, with iterations woven in a patchwork of embroidered textiles and in black wool with macramé, respectively. Last year, a scouting trip to see Aristeidis Tzonevrakis, a Greek tailor based in Argos who specializes in centuries-old needlework techniques, inspired the brand’s latest homage to the garment. Tzonevrakis’s version, which (even if not strictly a Bar) nods to the original, is a white double-faced wool jacket embellished with terzidiko, a traditional Greek twisted-cord embroidery consisting of ribbons and braids. For its sleeves and pockets, he looked to the intricate stitchings of ceremonial fustanella costumes; the buttonholes are inspired by vests worn in the Greek islands. “Ever since my very first collection,” says Chiuri, “I have viewed the Bar Jacket with the utmost respect, while also considering it something that could be continually updated.” Monsieur Dior himself would, no doubt, approve.

Photo assistant: Timothy Mulcare

Greek Island of Milos is Inspiration for Latest Dior Collection

The Greek island of Milos, and ancient Greece, are the inspirations behind the latest collection from the iconic French fashion house of Dior.

The video for the latest collection, which was published on Dior’s YouTube channel, shows off the stunning Greek island of Milos in all its beauty.

The clothing featured in the latest collection are inspired by ancient Greece, and prominent female figures from ancient Greek mythology.

Greek island of Milos source of inspiration for Dior, other designers

Milos, which is known for its turquoise waters and unique, Moon-like geological formations and authentic Cycladic villages, serves as inspiration for the latest collection from the iconic French fashion house.

The volcanic island is the southwesternmost island in the Cyclades archipelago, and because of its volcanic origin, it possesses a captivating landscape with soft, sandy beaches, underwater sea caves and dramatic cliffs.

This is not the first time Dior has used the gorgeous landscape of Greece as inspiration for an advertising campaign or fashion show.

Just a few months ago, in June, Dior held an awe-inspiring fashion show at the Panathenaic Stadium, or “Kallimarmaro,” in Athens for the major fashion house’s “Cruise 2022” collection.

Setting the show at the world famous, historically significant, and most importantly, decidedly Greek, Kallimarmaro Stadium is clearly a nod to ancient Greece, which acts as a huge inspiration for Dior.

At the helm of the show held in Athens was Maria Grazia Chiuri, Dior’s current creative director. Chiuri sees fashion through a feminist lens; she researched and subsequently channeled a great deal of information about powerful ancient Greek women for the Dior “Cruise 2022” collection,

Chiuri’s inspiration explains why the setting of the show is in such an explicitly historical place, as well as the contents of the collection, which are almost certainly Greek-inspired.

And that wasn’t the first time that Dior had sought to hold a fashion show in Greece. The show which was held at Kallimarmaro actually was the third such show, after a Dior show held in Athens in 1951 and a second show, in the 1970’s, with the iconic fashion house showcasing its elegant, minimalist dresses at the Acropolis.

The shows, which presented the Autumn/Winter haute couture collections, took a cue from their beautiful, graceful garments, with models posing in front of the Caryatids, mirroring their grace.

Louis Vuitton also inspired by Greek island

Dior isn’t the only figure in the fashion world that continues to seek inspiration from Greece, and the Greek island of Milos, in particular.

The famed French fashion house Louis Vuitton chose the beautiful Greek island of Milos as the setting for its latest brand campaign called “The Spirit of Travel,” which was released in September.

In the video, Sassen directs school-aged children playing against the stunning landscape for which the island is known, making the advertising campaign feel like memories of a childhood dream. The unique backdrop makes the shoot feel even more dreamlike.

And Milos was not the only destination to be featured in Louis Vuitton’s campaign.

“The Spirit of Travel goes beyond discovering a physical destination, it also sparks curiosity for what lies within. For this year’s brand campaign, photographer Viviane Sassen continues to translate the Maison’s core values into a far-reaching journey where imagination takes flight between past, present and future,” the fashion house wrote in a statement.

Photographer Sassen will travel to a variety of unique destinations for the campaign, including France and Jordan, as well.

Miss Dior Perfume Celebrated With Coin Series at Paris Mint

LIQUID ASSET: Even through a mask, the scent of fresh roses was everywhere at the Monnaie de Paris, where a series of coins celebrating the Miss Dior fragrance was being unveiled on Thursday night.

“When Monsieur Dior walked up the staircase of the Avenue Montaigne, he would say ‘flowers, flowers, more flowers’,” said Parfums Christian Dior’s chief executive officer Laurent Kleitman, noting the profusion of flowers that decorated the grand staircase and reception rooms of the Paris mint’s headquarters on Quai de Conti re-created the ambiance of the couturier’s 1947 show.

Describing the coin designs as luxurious for their ability to attract light and precious by their materials and the hands that created them, Kleitman called them “art objects that go far beyond the idea of currency” that stemmed from the fruitful meeting of the know-how of two houses with a shared love of craft in all its forms.

Among the eight designs are the 10-euro silver and 200-euro gold bows. Courtesy of Monnaie de Paris

Celebrating the apparently fleeting nature of a scent in tangible gold and silver coins was a way to “grant [Miss Dior] the kind of eternity only precious metal can bring” while nodding to the powerful connection to memory smells have, the executive later explained. “It’s poetic. Perfume is evanescent, but everything around it is eternal.”

Part of the French Excellence series that previously featured Boucheron, Cartier and Jean-Paul Gaultier, among others, the Dior series consists of eight designs — a commemorative silver medal and seven coins with denominations going from 10 to 10,000 euros.

“We are a very old — the oldest — house and I always say that Monnaie de Paris has a soul because we have a story. What we want is to work with houses that tell a particular story that is emblematic of French art and culture, and of the lifestyle and excellence in know-how of our country,” said Marc Schwartz, chief executive officer of France’s sovereign mint.

The recognizable shape of the Miss Dior bottle was the starting point for all the designs, according to Joaquin Jimenez, director of artistic creations and head engraver of the Paris mint.

As legal tender cannot bear any branding other than the insignia of the French republic, Jimenez worked to express the transparency of a bottle on solid precious metals. “The star became a window of sorts in which I included other elements. The challenge here is to create an impression of depth when the light hits these engravings that are a fraction of a millimeter deep,” he said.

The two-kilo proof has a facial value of 10,000 euros and will be auctioned at Sotheby’s next year. Courtesy of Monnaie de Paris

Signatures of the perfume and house, including its bow, stylized roses, as well as the houndstooth motif and the five-pointed star the couturier loved, adorned coins going from 10-euro silver and 200-euro gold bows to the round 50- and 500-euro formats.

In a first for the 1,200-year-old institution, a two-kilo proof with a nominal value of 10,000 euros was also created. Using a combination of traditional minting and casting, it is shaped like the perfume’s bottle in yellow gold and adorned with seven flowers and a bow in rose gold.

Housed in a trunk-shaped case and accompanied by a sketch of a blowsy rose by French artist Xavier Casalta, it is to be auctioned at Sotheby’s next March, although details were still being fleshed out.

As for the rest, they will be sold starting Friday, although the evening’s guests could acquire them already. “And though we don’t really like that at the Monnaie de Paris, we do accept credit card payments,” joked Schwartz.