Christian Dior: The Art of Haute Couture

Abstract

This chapter deals with Christian Dior, one of the leading brands in the contemporary luxury fashion sector. This chapter shows how artification operates in the Dior Couture fashion house, emerging as a form of hybridization between the brand and art. This chapter depicts the hybridization process, in the context of Maison Dior. It charts a process that emerges through three kinds of mechanisms. First, Dior celebrates its creator as an artist: the chapter shows how the Dior brand has been historically and genuinely linked to the world of art and how this is promoted today. Second, artification emerges through a heritagization process that drives consumers to consider Christian Dior as part of the French heritage and a key component of the French fashion history. Finally, the spectacularization of the fashion house cultivates a contemporary vision of the brand based on the creative director’s work. Creative directors, have played a key role in making the brand appealing and avoiding the risk of “museification” or commoditization.