Editing Christian Dior (section)

==Early life==
[[File:Granville - Maison et Musée de Dior.jpg|thumb|right|The Christian Dior Home and Museum in [[Granville, Manche|Granville]], France]]
Dior was born in [[Granville, Manche|Granville]], a seaside town on the coast of [[Normandy]], France. He was the second of five children born to [[Maurice Dior]], a wealthy fertilizer manufacturer (the family firm was Dior Frères), and his wife, formerly [[Madeleine Dior|Madeleine Martin]]. He had four siblings: Raymond (father of [[Françoise Dior]]), Jacqueline, Bernard, and [[Catherine Dior]].<ref name=Pochna5>Pochna, M-F. (1996). ''Christian Dior: The Man Who Made the World Look New'' p. 5, Arcade Publishing. {{ISBN|1-55970-340-7}}.</ref> When Christian was about five years old, the family moved to Paris.<ref name=bibby>{{cite web|url=https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/christian-dior|title=Biography: Christian Dior|publisher=Vogue|first=Bibby|last=Sowray|date=5 April 2012|access-date=28 February 2024}}</ref>

Dior's family had hoped he would become a diplomat, but Dior was interested in art.<ref>{{cite book|last=Pochna|first=Marie-France|title=Christian Dior: The Man Who Made the World Look New|year=1996|publisher=Arcade Pub.|location=New York|isbn=1-55970-340-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/christiandiorman00poch/page/207 207]|url=https://archive.org/details/christiandiorman00poch|url-access=registration|edition=1st English language}}</ref> To make money, he sold his fashion sketches outside his house for about 10 cents each (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|.10|1928}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars {{inflation-fn|US}}). In 1928, he left school and received money from his father to finance a small art gallery, where he and a friend sold art by the likes of [[Pablo Picasso]]. Alongside managing his art gallery, Dior cultivated friendships with influential artists, including Pablo Picasso, [[Salvador Dalí]], [[Jean Cocteau]], and [[Alberto Giacometti]]. Immersed in this creative environment, Dior drew inspiration from their work, which shaped his later approach in fashion design.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Christian Dior - The Story of the "Emperor of Fashion" |url=https://dsfantiquejewelry.com/blogs/journal/christian-dior-the-story-of-the-emperor-of-fashion |access-date=2024-11-02 |website=DSF Antique Jewelry |language=en}}</ref> The gallery closed three years later, following the deaths of Dior's mother and brother, as well as financial trouble during the [[Great Depression]] that resulted in his father losing control of the family business.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Cooper |first=Leah Faye |date=1 July 2022 |title=How Christian Dior Pioneered 75 Years of Feminist Fashion |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2022/07/christian-dior-feminist-fashion |magazine=Vanity Fair}}</ref><ref name=boa /> Dior had no choice but to find another source of income to support himself.<ref name="boa">{{Cite web |title=Christian Dior (1905-1957) |url=https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/news-analysis/christian-dior-1905-1957/ |access-date=2023-05-14 |website=The Business of Fashion |date=23 November 2015 |language=en}}</ref>

In search of work, Dior again created and sold fashion sketches. Those sketches were discovered by [[Robert Piguet]].<ref name="boa"/> From 1937, Dior was employed by fashion designer Piguet, who gave him the opportunity to design for three collections.<ref name=marly>{{cite book|last=Marly|first=Diana de|title=Christian Dior|date=1990|publisher=B.T. Batsford|location=London|isbn=978-0-7134-6453-5|page=12|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-OvxAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Cafe+Anglais%22|quote=Dior designed three collections while at Piguet's, and the most famous dress he created then was the Cafe Anglais}}</ref><ref name=pochna2>{{cite book|last=Pochna|first=Marie-France|title=Christian Dior: The Man Who Made the World Look New |date=1996|publisher=Arcade Pub.|location=New York|isbn=978-1-55970-340-6|pages=[https://archive.org/details/christiandiorman00poch/page/62 62], 72, 74, 80, 102|url=https://archive.org/details/christiandiorman00poch|url-access=registration|quote=Robert Piguet.|edition=1st English language |translator-last1=Savill |translator-first1=Joanna}}</ref> Dior later said that "Robert Piguet taught me the virtues of simplicity through which true elegance must come."<ref name=quin>{{cite book| last=Grainger |first=Nathalie |title=Quintessentially Perfume|date=2010|publisher=Quintessentially Pub. Ltd. |location=London |isbn=978-0-9558270-6-8 |page=125|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e_46gh0ddVIC&pg=PA125}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Picken|first=Mary Brooks |title=Dressmakers of France: The Who, How, and why of the French Couture |date=1956 |publisher=Harper |page=105 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vJHOAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Robert+Piguet+taught+me+the+virtues+of+simplicity+through+which+true+elegance+must+come%22|author2=Dora Loues Miller}}</ref> One of his original designs for Piguet, a day dress with a short, full skirt that was in his collection called "Cafe Anglais", was particularly well received.<ref name=marly/><ref name=pochna2/> Whilst at Piguet, Dior worked alongside [[Pierre Balmain]], and was succeeded as house designer by [[Marc Bohan]] – who would, in 1960, become head of design for Christian Dior Paris.<ref name=pochna2/> Dior left Piguet when he was called up for military service.<ref name=bibby/>

In 1942, when Dior left the army, he joined the fashion house of [[Lucien Lelong]], where he and Balmain were the primary designers. For the duration of World War II, Dior, as an employee of Lelong, designed dresses for the wives of Nazi officers and French collaborators, as did other fashion houses that remained in business during the war, including [[Jean Patou]], [[Jeanne Lanvin]], and [[Nina Ricci (brand)|Nina Ricci]].<ref>Jayne Sheridan, ''Fashion, Media, Promotion: The New Black Magic'' (John Wiley & Sons, 2010), p. 44.</ref><ref>Yuniya Kawamura, ''The Japanese Revolution in Fashion'' (Berg Publishers, 2004), page 46. As quoted in the book, Lelong was a leading force in keeping the French fashion industry from being forcibly moved to Berlin, arguing, "You can impose anything upon us by force, but Paris couture cannot be uprooted, neither as a whole or in any part. Either it stays in Paris, or it does not exist. It is not within the power of any nation to steal fashion creativity, for not only does it function quite spontaneously, also it is the product of a tradition maintained by a large body of skilled men and women in a variety of crafts and trades." Kawamura explains that the survival of the French fashion industry was critical to the survival of France, stating, "Export of a single dress by a leading couturier enabled the country to buy ten tons of coal, and a liter of perfume was worth two tons of petrol" (page 46).</ref> His sister, Catherine (1917–2008), a member of the [[French Resistance]], was captured by the [[Gestapo]] and sent to the [[Ravensbrück concentration camp]], where she was incarcerated until her liberation in May 1945.<ref>{{cite book |first=Gitta |last=Sereny |title=The Healing Wound: Experiences and Reflections, Germany, 1938–2001 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |location=New York |year=2002 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/healingwoundexpe00sere/page/15 15–16] |isbn=0-393-04428-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/healingwoundexpe00sere/page/15 }}</ref> In 1947, Dior named his debut fragrance [[Miss Dior]] in tribute to her.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Ranscombe |first=Sian |date=7 November 2017 |title=An exclusive interview with the nose behind the new Miss Dior perfume |url=https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/beauty/fragrance/a13330467/miss-dior-perfumer-francois-demachy-interview/ |magazine=Harper's Bazaar |access-date=18 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Pithers |first=Ellie |date=12 November 2013 |title=Who was the original Miss Dior? |url=http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/beauty/news-features/TMG10443967/Who-was-the-original-Miss-Dior.html |work=The Telegraph |access-date=18 February 2024}}</ref>

Dior was known for being superstitious. He often consulted his astrologer before making decisions, and his collections frequently featured talismanic symbols. He also carried a cluster of lucky charms with him, believing they brought him good fortune.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/womens-style/superstition-clairvoyants-influenced-fashion-designers-christian|title=How superstition and clairvoyants influenced fashion designers from Christian Dior to Coco Chanel|website=The Telegraph|date=11 September 2021 |access-date=2023-09-28 |last1=Picardie |first1=Justine }}</ref> At a pivotal moment when industrialist Marcel Boussac offered six million francs to establish Maison Christian Dior, Dior accepted only after receiving approval from two separate clairvoyants.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Sinclair |first=Charlotte |url=https://archive.org/details/vogueonchristian0000sinc/mode/2up?q=Boussac |title=Vogue on Christian Dior |date=2012 |publisher=London : Quadrille |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-1-84949-112-9}}</ref>