Enter The Legendary Dior Paris 30 Montaigne

Entering Dior 30 Montaigne, is embracing the rich history of the Fashion house and its creator Christian Dior. The story of Dior is definitely the story of fashion, Parisian Haute Couture, of an era and so much more.

Christian Dior was born in Granville in Normandy on January 21, 1905. He was the second of five children. His father, Alexandre Louis Maurice Dior, was a rich industrialist and his mother, Madeleine Martin, a housewife. He grew up in Normandy and moved to Paris in the early 1910s. After the Great Depression, the villa Les Rhumbs where the family lived in the heights of Granville was sold – today it is a Dior Museum preserving most of the heritage of Dior. “My childhood home was rendered in a very soft pink, combined with gray gravel, and these two shades have remained my favorite colors in couture”, Christian Dior wrote in his autobiography “Dior by Dior” in 1958. In the 1930s, The young Christian started his career as a gallerist then an illustrator and finally became what he will excel in: a great couturier. A magician for women as they immediately understood that Mr Dior wanted to make them feel not only more beautiful but also happier.

On December 1946, Dior inaugurated the house of Dior at the iconic 30 Montaigne. He succumbed to the charm of this “hotel particulier” in a magical street of Paris and of the architecture with its neoclassical facade. Then, the story never stopped being rewritten, reinvented or reimagined by his six successors: Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Raf Simons et Maria Grazia Chiuri.

Christian Dior created his first collection Spring Summer 1947 in the salon of 30 Avenue Montaigne and invented the revolutionary look in the history of fashion: The New Look, thanks to Carmel Snow, Editor in Chief of American Harper’s Bazaar who named this extremely elegant new silhouette.

Inside 30 Montaigne, Dior “beehive” as Christian Dior liked to name it, today each space reminds us of the visionary spirit of this man who revolutionized the codes of feminity and built an empire in just ten years.

After two years of pharaonic renovations, the mythic “hotel particulier” reopened in 2022 and now spans over 10,000 square meters. Inside, the Dior Ateliers, a fairy tale boutique, a restaurant called Monsieur Dior, a pastry café, and the Dior Galerie conceived like a museum with its separate entrance from the boutique. The emblem of Parisian elegance and French Haute Couture for seventy five years, the extraordinary refuge of Dior has been orchestrated by the architect Peter Marino, who has collaborated with the house for more than 25 years. For the third time, the architect has revamped the boutique: “we doubled the size, doubled the volume, we went up, it used to be a single level”, he explained. “The interior is a combination of deconstructivism and architecture with 18th century doors and windows, a myriad of patterns”, he continued. The Parisian address celebrates the excellence of savoir faire, the passion for an art de vivre and for culture.

The Dior Gallery tells the immensely rich history of the fashion house. Like a museum, through a unique scenography imagined by Nathalie Crinière, along 13 themed rooms, visitors are invited to discover and dream inside the world of Dior. It is also the evolution of fashion in our society through the years we can observe here.

Exclusive pieces, rare creations, iconic bags, sumptuous dresses, original sketches, archival documents, photographs etc. Some exceptional objects of the heritage of the house are exposed in the gallery like J’adore perfume interpreted by the artist India Mahdavi only issued in 1000 pieces of art.

There is a splendid room dedicated to “gold” which deciphers the history of this iconic best seller Dior perfume drawn by Hervé Van der Straeten. Without forgetting the splendor of the gardens -so much adored by Mr Dior-, the sumptuousness of the ballgowns on display, the beauty of the “petites mains” gestures and artistic affinities.

The color-coded original staircase with more than 1500 miniature objects in 3D printing transports the visitors in a Dior colorama rainbow. Each room evokes an infinite priceless heritage that the House of Dior has preciously preserved since its founding and continues to enrich. “Fashion designers offer one of the last refuges of the marvelous. They are, in a way, the masters of dreams…” Christian Dior, Dior by Dior, 1958.

To celebrate the first year anniversary of the reopening of the boutique, the windows of 30 Montaigne evoke a dream landscape. Created with upcycled scraps of materials and trims from the atelier, birds of paradise, butterflies, honeybees, and owls can be admired.

In 2020, The house of Dior created Dream in Green, a global and local program to respond to the environmental challenges which involve all the Dior departments around the world.