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Miss Dior: A Story of Courage and Couture
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About This Book
"Remarkable" ―Hamish Bowles, Vogue The overdue restoration of Catherine Dior's extraordinary life, from her brother's muse to Holocaust survivor When the French designer Christian Dior presented his first collection in Paris in 1947, he changed fashion forever. Dior's "New Look" created a striking, romantic vision of femininity, luxury, and grace, making him―and his last name―famous overnight. One woman informed Dior's vision more than any his sister, Catherine, a Resistance fighter, concentration camp survivor, and cultivator of rose gardens who inspired Dior's most beloved fragrance, Miss Dior. Yet the story of Catherine's remarkable life―so different from her famous brother's―has never been told, until now. Drawing on the Dior archives and extensive research, Justine Picardie's Miss Dior is the long-overdue restoration of Catherine Dior's life. The siblings' stories are profoundly in Occupied France, as Christian honed his couture skills, Catherine dedicated herself to the Resistance, ultimately being captured by the Gestapo and sent to Ravensbruck, the only Nazi camp solely for women. Seeking to trace Catherine's story as well as her influence on her brother, Picardie traveled to the significant places of Catherine's life, including Les Rhumbs, the Dior family villa with its magnificent gardens; the House of Dior in Paris; and La Colle Noire, Christian's chateâu that he bequeathed to his sister. Inventive and captivating, and shaped by Picardie's own journey, Miss Dior examines the legacy of Christian Dior, the secrets of postwar France, and the unbreakable bond between two remarkable siblings. Most important, it shines overdue recognition on a previously overlooked life, one that epitomized courage and also embodied the astonishing capacity of the human spirit to remain undimmed, even in the darkest circumstances. Includes Black-and-White Illustrations
Reviews
"Some of the most moving images in this richly illustrated book are the tiny drawings and gifts that the women made for each other in Ravensbrück, to keep themselves from despair and maintain their self-respect ..."
"Like a dress by some wilfully edgy label...its constituent parts seem not to go together."
"But it is not a portrait of Catherine Dior."
"Picardie's biography exhibits deep appreciation for Christian and a craving to understand Catherine's life; the only detriment is the limited glimpses into Catherine's life, perhaps because too much time is devoted to a wider narrative of World War II ..."
"Readers will respect Catherine's strength and quiet dignity; recognize Christian's iconic fashions and glamorous clientele, and grimly anticipate the fates of Nazi sympathizers and collaborators."
"The admirable Catherine, however, remains largely absent, which, after all, is probably what she would have wanted."
"Is this a book about Catherine and her story of courage, or is it an account of Christian's career and the business of couture under and after occupation?"
"A well-informed rendering of dramatic times."
"Readers will find that the essence of this remarkable woman remains elusive."
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