Next up in our new segment, Ten’s To Do, we’re talking the new must have book, ‘Dior by Marc Bohan’. Because if we’re not looking at, thinking about or writing up on fashion, we’re reading about it. Live it, love it, breathe it. In the third of seven books commemorating the work of Christian Dior’s most influential designers, this edition focuses on Marc Bohan’s iconic 30 years at the house, as remembered by author Jérôme Hanover. “Elegance is simplicity in refinement,” Bohan once said. Oui oui. His conservative yet expertly tailored trapeze and evening dresses shot his work at Dior into stardom during the 1960s, gathering influence and power, most notably after Elizabeth Taylor famously ordered 12 dresses after his 1961 show. Bohan knew what the elite women of the world wanted, and created polished, classic pieces that have lived on through the archives and are still heavily referenced.
In the most recent of Maria Grazia Chiuri’s collections for the label, she had discovered a young girl’s protest in response to Bohan’s long hemlines, holding a sign outside a boutique in the ‘60s that read, ‘support the miniskirt’. “I discovered that Bohan’s response to this was to introduce the Miss Dior line, to give these younger consumers what they wanted,” Grazia Chiuri said at the show. “I thought it was so interesting to see fashion listening to women. And there is something about now that is similar to 1968. This is another moment when everything is changing.” A perfectly timed release, in all its forever relevant glory, with hundreds of photographs of dresses shot by Laziz Hamani alongside archival images of Marc Bohan’s reign at the House. We will go forth, Dior by Marc Bohan book under our arm and conquer the world, fully empowered, stronger and wiser.
‘Dior by Marc Bohan’ is available from April, published by Assouline.
