By Hershey Pascual
The American photographer Richard Avedon enjoyed a special relationship with the House of Dior. The book, Dior by Avedon retraces the relationship between them through iconic images that is traced back to 1947, just after Christian Dior had taken the Paris fashion world by storm. Each particular picture is stylistically, historically memorable in the world of fashion. Avedon’s photographs are the reflection of an attitude and movement frozen for all eternity; they capture a special emotion that is almost invisible to the naked eye.
There’s a photograph of the model Renée in a New Look suit and Dior’s lifelong friend, Christian Bérard, who poses on a working class street of post-war Paris attracting curious locals to their windows. Doe Avedon, the photographer’s wife, wears a fur on a train station platform, and Suzy Parker is seen roller-skating with Robin Tattersall on the Place de la Concorde. Carmen Dell’Orefice listens to sweet nothings on the Alexandre III bridge and Twiggy appears to dance the flamenco.
Other images include: a pensive and elusive Marlene Dietrich lighting a cigarette, Audrey Hepburn wandering the cobblestone streets of Paris and stepping onto the dance floor at Maxim’s, and Dovima wearing the Soirée de Paris evening gown, from 1955, striking a pose between two elephants which is one of the most famous images in the history of fashion. Avedon said: “It’s a choreographic moment. I saw the elephants under the glass roof and I immediately knew I had to find the right dress. I seized all the potential one could see.” The book also has never-before-published photographs worth investigating.
Fashion historian, Olivier Saillard who is director of the Palais Galliera, the Fashion Museum of the City of Paris, wrote in the afterword: “This communion (between the work of Christian Dior and that of Richard Avedon) penned the golden age of fashion photography, which advanced without any artifice save determination, at a time when shooting without a safety net transformed photographers and their lenses into puckish acrobats.” French designer and aristocrat, Jacqueline de Ribes called Avedon “the most seductive, enthusiastic, dynamic, inspiring, demanding and extravagant of photographers.”
Avedon’s images document Dior’s history from the 1940s to the 1970s. He had an eye for moments of grace, drama and humour. He captured the essence of Dior’s elegant designs and the style and personality of the women who wore them. His work showcases iconic moments in photography and it shouldn’t be missed by anyone interested in the history of great fashion design.
