Christian Dior’s Chief Archivist to Speak at the Fashion Museum Bath

On a cold misty morning in Paris in February 1947 fashion designer Christian Dior showed his first collection, the New Look, and the world of fashion changed forever.  

 

At the end of the show, the editor of influential American fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar, Carmel Snow (one of the most powerful women in fashion at the time), exclaimed: “It’s quite a revolution, dear Christian! Your dresses have such a new look!” The expression ‘new look’ was picked up by a correspondent from Reuters and so one of the most famous phrases in fashion was coined.

 

On the 70th anniversary of this landmark fashion moment the Fashion Museum Bath has invited Soizic Pfaff, Chief Archivist at the House of Dior, to give one of the museum’s special Twilight Talks, and provide an insight into the history and working of the ultimate Paris couture house. 

 

Pfaff has worked at Christian Dior since 1974 and she is in charge of all the archives, from the original haute couture samples to Dior’s personal travel albums. 

 

Councillor Patrick Anketell-Jones (Conservative, Lansdown), Cabinet Member for Economic Development at Bath & North East Somerset Council, said: “This is a unique opportunity to learn about Christian Dior from someone who has worked at the heart of the fashion house for many years, and has an unrivalled knowledge of its history.”

 

The Twilight Talk, ‘Dior by Dior’, will take place in the Panorama Room at the Fashion Museum Bath on Thursday 16 February 2017 from 6.15pm to 7.15pm. 

 

Prior to the talk, the Museum’s visitor services assistants will offer mini ‘Dior feature tours’ of three ensembles from the Fashion Museum collection by the House of Dior, which are on display in the headline exhibition ‘A History of Fashion in 100 Objects’. Please arrive at 5.30pm with a ticket to the Twilight Talk if you would like to join one of the tours.

 

Tickets cost £10 adults / £8 students, including wine reception, and are available to buy at the Fashion Museum Bath or www.bathboxoffice.org.uk.  

 

This is one of a series of Twilight Talks at the Fashion Museum Bath in spring 2017. Tickets for all talks are now available on the Bath Box Office website.