Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams
When the V&A announced it would be displaying an exhibition on the late Christian Dior set to open on the 2nd February, it sent consumers into a frenzy. Within seven weeks the exhibition was sold out and ended up being extended for an additional seven weeks, ending on September 1st instead of the 14th July. Proving to be the most popular exhibition since the museum's Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibition in 2015, Dior continued to sell out every time additional tickets were released.
I, myself, have been to the exhibition four times and every time it has been just as magical as the first time. I queued for tickets early one saturday morning and unfortunately just missed out on getting some so decided to open a V&A membership instead, which actually was the best thing I could have done.
Every room in the exhibition has been curated with such extreme levels of detail and, as a result, pays excellent homage to Dior's inspirations and life. The Dior exhibition was held in the new Sainsbury Gallery at the V&A, which boasts a massive space so hopefully going forward we can expect to see more incredibly vast and creative exhibitions, although the Dior exhibition has set the bar incredibly high. The exhibition features work from Christian Dior himself, as well as his predecessors Yves Saint-Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Raf Simons and Maria Grazia Chuiuri.
I, myself, have been to the exhibition four times and every time it has been just as magical as the first time. I queued for tickets early one saturday morning and unfortunately just missed out on getting some so decided to open a V&A membership instead, which actually was the best thing I could have done.
Every room in the exhibition has been curated with such extreme levels of detail and, as a result, pays excellent homage to Dior's inspirations and life. The Dior exhibition was held in the new Sainsbury Gallery at the V&A, which boasts a massive space so hopefully going forward we can expect to see more incredibly vast and creative exhibitions, although the Dior exhibition has set the bar incredibly high. The exhibition features work from Christian Dior himself, as well as his predecessors Yves Saint-Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Raf Simons and Maria Grazia Chuiuri.
My favourite room would have to be the Garden, which showed just how much Dior was influenced by nature and flowers. The ceiling had been transformed into a forest of paper-looking flowers which added such an incredible effect to the atmosphere. According to a video the V&A uploaded on their Facebook page about the Garden, 'Wanda Barcelone used 2,000 Princess Margaret roses, 5,000 Clematis, 1,400 Wisteria, 4,000 Lily of the Valley and 14 Creeping Jenny cascades'. You can watch the video here.
There was a room which featured a variety of Dior's creative products, including miniature replica dresses on bust forms, shoes, bags, make-up, perfume, jelewery, magazines... and more. All sectioned by colour, this room was extremely well put together and aesthetically pleasing. A mini concertina of the room could be bought from the shop (which I obviously did, along with the book, tote bag, post cards and a print).
The finale room was an amazing spectacle of Dior's masterpieces. Set like a ballroom, the lighting changed from day to night and the room had a completely immersive and enchanting atmosphere. I mean, you could easily sit and spend all day in here being mesmerised by the whole atmosphere. You could appreciate the garments from all different angles, all kinds of lighting and could get close enough you could see all the embellishment and finer details.
I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to attend this exhibition four times, and like I said, every time I was just as overwhelmed. I hope the V&A continue to curate such incredible fashion exhibitions. So far they have announced the following exhibitions for next year: Bags!, Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk and Alice in Wonderland, and of course Tim Walker: Wonderful Things opens in september.
All photos taken by me.
The finale room was an amazing spectacle of Dior's masterpieces. Set like a ballroom, the lighting changed from day to night and the room had a completely immersive and enchanting atmosphere. I mean, you could easily sit and spend all day in here being mesmerised by the whole atmosphere. You could appreciate the garments from all different angles, all kinds of lighting and could get close enough you could see all the embellishment and finer details.
I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to attend this exhibition four times, and like I said, every time I was just as overwhelmed. I hope the V&A continue to curate such incredible fashion exhibitions. So far they have announced the following exhibitions for next year: Bags!, Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk and Alice in Wonderland, and of course Tim Walker: Wonderful Things opens in september.
All photos taken by me.
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