Dior

Christian Dior opened his maison on Avenue Montaigne in Paris in December 1946 and presented the first 'New Look' collection on February 12, 1947 — wasp waists, full skirts, sloped shoulders, a deliberate return to lavish femininity after years of wartime austerity. The look reset Parisian couture overnight and Dior himself became, within months, the most-discussed designer in the world. He died of a heart attack in October 1957 at 52, having dressed an entire decade. The house weathered many succession stories — Yves Saint Laurent (1957-60, departed for military service), Marc Bohan (1961-89), Gianfranco Ferré (1989-96), John Galliano (1996-2011, a thrilling and ultimately controversial tenure), Raf Simons (2012-15), Maria Grazia Chiuri (2016-2024, the first woman to lead the house and a vocal feminist platform), and most recently Jonathan Anderson (2024–) taking over the men's and women's lines. Dior is wholly owned by LVMH and is the group's second-largest fashion house after Louis Vuitton. The Saddle Bag (1999, revived 2018), the Bar Jacket, the Lady Dior, the J'adore fragrance, the Sauvage cologne — each is a piece of cultural infrastructure. The 30 Avenue Montaigne flagship, reopened in 2022 after a multi-year refurbishment, doubles as a museum and is one of the most-visited fashion destinations in the world.