The House Of Dior Celebrates Catherine Dior, Miss Dior

“Make me a perfume that smells like love” Christian Dior asked perfumer Paul Vacher in 1947 to create the legendary Miss Dior scent, launched right after the Second World War, at a time when an immense desire for joy sprang up throughout France after that horrible period.

While searching for a name for his fragrance, Christian Dior’s muse Mitzah Bricard saw his sister Catherine and exclaimed “Well, here comes Miss Dior!” Then Christian Dior gave the nickname of his beloved admired sister, Catherine Dior to the iconic fragrance. Inspiring, strong and resilient, Catherine Dior is a heroine with an unprecedented determination revealed in the book by Justine Picardie “Miss Dior, A story of Courage and Couture” coming out on Tuesday November 9th in the U.S. 

Justine Picardie magically wrote the very touching and extraordinary life of Christian Di0r’s sister, Catherine Dior.

A woman, a Resistance fighter, a concentration camp survivor, and a cultivator of rose gardens. What is more incredible is that until now, the story of that heroic woman was untold. “I could not understand how this brave heroic woman who suffered  terribly,  may have  just been forgotten by history,” said Justine Picardie. So, she wanted to tell her story and also to understand why in the aftermath of the Second World War, stories like Catherine’s were forgotten.

The former editor in chief of the British editions of Harper’s Bazaar and Town & Country has extensively searched Dior’s Archives to evoke Catherine Dior’s life brilliantly. She traveled twice to Germany, to Ravensbruck camp, the only Nazi camp for women, to explore that terrible place but also a very important place in the life of Catherine Dior. “There is a rose garden in Ravensbruck planted in memory of the women who suffered there...It was a very scary experience for me but it was also so important to go there,” pointed out Justine.

She spent time and slept in Catherine ‘s bedroom in La Colle Noire writing her own diary and seeking her trace and the unbreakable bond between Christian and Catherine. “This is the story of a ghost who walked into my life on a sunlit Sunday morning in early summer, and would not let go of me, however much I might wish, at times, to be free of her ?” Here’s the first sentence of Justine’s book.

“Miss Dior, A story of Courage and Couture” is the 6th book of writer Justine Picardie but she said that writing this book was the most intense and emotional experience among anything she had ever written as an author. You could definitely feel it through her words. It is a book about hope, beauty, and French history and heritage. The book is full of exceptional images. “Pictures are very important and they should work with the words,” said Justine. “It is so important to show the way in which women in the Resistance, who were in prison, expressed themselves creatively.” There are drawings in the book drawn by those women who were deported to Ravensbruck. The drawings are beautiful and full of real power. “The book has to look beautiful even in the darkest chapters, you have to see how those women fought to be still regarded as women,” added Justine.

The book is a clue to understand the magical work of Christian Dior- since its first collection presented in Paris in 1947- and the human urge to create beauty even after the most horrible and terrible trauma. Christian Dior created the New Look, a romantic vision of femininity and grace and her sister has never ceased to be a source of inspiration for him, until his sudden death in 1957. 

The French edition of the book by Justine Picardie was launched at the same time as the Miss Dior exhibition in Chateau de La Colle Noire in the South of France. For the first time the Chateau was opened to the public.

In this enchanting place lives the spirit of Christian Dior and Catherine Dior. A marvelous ode to nature and culture, the aesthetic  heritage of the couturier. From October 15 to November 1st, the House of Dior selected and gave “carte blanche” to twelve women from the international art scene to reinterpret the iconic Miss Dior bottle.

The women artists’ sculptures and installations were displayed inside the château and in its beautiful garden. Twelve women from different countries around the world, with their own personalities united together by Dior.

French sculptor Ingrid Donat and visual artist Mimosa Echard, German sculptor Pia Maria Raeder, or New Zealand designer Sabine Marcelis and American artist Anya Kielar have reimagined the Miss Dior bottle within their own creativity and soul keeping its emblematic codes. Colored, pink, painted coatings, resin, collages, ceramic, Miss Dior is revealed in a surrealist, poetic, pop, more realistic or in a sustainable way. A multitude of contemporary visions.

This exhibition wanted to show the constant dialogue between Christian Dior’s passion for art and for women. As Justine Picardie likes to recall, “Miss Dior is Catherine Dior and her strong spirit is contained in the perfume.” This fall, The new Eau de Parfum Miss Dior has been embellished with a precious handcrafted ribbon by French artisan ribbon maker Julien Faure.

A homage to flowers, creativity and femininity to bring happiness and joy to all women.