Dior: The Legendary Images
The exhibition and accompanying title Dior: The Legendary Images continues to explore the ties between the world’s most renowned artists and the House of Dior.
Continuing the spirit of Dior’s previous exhibitions that have focused on the House’s cultural influences Dior: The Legendary Images demonstrates how photography has contributed to Christian Dior’s worldwide success. Ever since Christian Dior’s first Haute Couture presentation in 1947, the House of Dior has been enriched by the eyes of the world’s greatest photographers, who were inspired by the legendary couturier’s style as well as that of his successors.
In the post-war years, Richard Avedon, Horst P. Horst and Clifford Coffin established the canons of Christian Dior’s iconographic signature. Then photographers such as Irving Penn, Erwin Blumfeld and Helmut Newton built on Dior’s vision of women to create an archetype of fashion photography. Contemporary photographers including the likes of Patrick Demarchelier, Nan Goldin and Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin have exalted this view and genre.
Dior: The Legendary Images focuses on three themes: the photographer’s eye, the resulting portraits of Dior style, and the construction of the Dior image. A selection of 200 photographs are accompanied by approximately 60 haute couture garments and archival documents. Dior’s partnerships with over 80 photography-greats from the mid-20th through the early 21st centuries are revealed.
The accompanying title of the same name provides an in-depth look into the way photographers have captured the garments and iconic style of the house. The title includes renowned photographs, such as Avedon’s 1955 image of Dovima alongside two elephants and contemporary images of Nan Goldin’s image of Robert Pattinson for Dior Homme. For more about the release click here.
Dior: The Legendary Images is on display until Sunday 21 September 2014 at the Christian Dior Museum in Granville, Normandy.
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