Housed in the couturier’s childhood home in Normandy, this summer the Musée Christian Dior in Granville will host the exhibition ‘Dior, the New Look Revolution’. A book with the same title will be published by Rizzoli on this occasion. Both retrace the story of the Bar suit, the iconic manifesto of Christian Dior’s first collection which has continued to inspire the House of Dior’s contemporary creations ever since.

This is the story of an out-and-out revolution in the history of fashion. On February 12, 1947, Christian Dior presented his first haute couture collection, thereby marking the start of a new era – the triumph of femininity. It was a ‘New Look’ for which the Bar suit, with its black skirt and ecru jacket, became both the manifesto and the icon.

The exhibition curated by fashion historian Florence Müller and the book written by Laurence Benaïm look back at the destiny of this now legendary silhouette. Photographs and archives reveal the complexity of its architecture. We also discover this Dior emblem revisited in a selection of contemporary creations: a bracelet with diamond and emerald pleats by Victoire de Castellane, a trouser suit, a majestic coat-dress, a horse-hair skirt with oversized pleats designed by Raf Simons, plus a number of other variations of this vision of eternal femininity by Dior.

The Christian Dior ‘Dior, the New Look Revolution’ runs from June 6th to November 1st, 2015 at the Musée Christian Dior in Granville, located at Villa les Rhumbs on Rue d’Estouteville, 50400 Granville. ‘Dior, the New Look Revolution’, was published June 8th, 2015.