Feeling like I made the fashionista’s version of a visit to Mecca, I traveled to Dallas to visit fashion’s own current version of Mecca, the fashion exhibit Dior: From Paris to the World currently on exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art (“DMA”) until September 1, 2019. Vogue contributor Hamish Bowles writes in his recent article regarding his visit to the exhibit opening “To reach Dallas, Texas, had to cross the ocean and enter the New World,” quoting Christian Dior, remembering his first visit to Dallas in the fall of 1947. He had been invited by Stanley Marcus to be a recipient of the 10 th annual Neiman Marcus Award “for distinguished service in the field of fashion”. This relationship between Dior and Dallas has now come full circle with the DMA hosting Dior back in Dallas yet again.
The stunning exhibit is a retrospective of more than 70 years of the House of Dior, featuring a dynamic collection of almost 200 haute couture dresses, as well as accessories, photographs, original sketches, runway videos and other archival material. The exhibition profiles both Dior himself as well as he subsequent artistic directors of the House of Dior, including Yves Saint Laurent (1958-1960), Marc Bohan (1961-1989), Gianfranco Ferre (1989-1996), John Galliano (1997-2011), Raf Simons (2012-2015) and Maria Grazia Chiuri (2016-Present).
The exhibit begins with rooms full of dresses from each of the artistic directors of the House of Dior, arranged in order of their time at Dior. The purpose is to give the viewer a feel for the style and design
philosophy of the particular artistic director. Then, the exhibit rooms include a mix of the works of the various artistic directors. Simply stunning is the “Ladies in Dior” wall which is from floor to ceiling and features dresses worn by some of Dior’s more well-known clients, including Grace Kelly, Rihanna and Marilyn Monroe. Monroe’s black backless Dior dress worn for her final photo shoot is part of this collection. The exhibit also features a collection of fashion photography, featuring Dior designs, as photographed by the likes of Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Louise Dahl-Wolfe and Cecil Beaton (basically the most iconic fashion photographers of their time).
Thank you, Sarah Schleuning, The Margot B. Perot Senior Curator of Decorative Arts and Design at the Dallas Museum of Art, for our guided tour and truly a fabulous afternoon. I will not soon forget it.
Timed tickets are required to enter this exhibit. Adult tickets are $20 Tuesday-Thursday and $25 Friday
– Sunday. Purchase yours online at https://www.dma.org/dior
