A Look Inside the NGV's Massive New Dior Haute Couture Exhibition

Take a peek at the 140 French fashion house's garments before the exhibition opens on Sunday.
Tom Clift
August 25, 2017

Melbourne's NGV International is celebrating the unique designs and lasting legacy of fashion icon Christian Dior, in a world premiere exhibition launching this Sunday, August 27.

Running until November 7, The House of Dior: Seventy Years of Haute Couture will be one of three major surveys of Dior's groundbreaking work, alongside exhibitions in Paris and New York. The Melbourne show will include more than 140 show-stopping garments, stretching the length and breadth of the label's extraordinary history.

"Highlights of the NGV's House of Dior exhibition will include one of the few surviving examples of Christian Dior's New Look collection, which revitalised women's fashion in the post-war era," said gallery director Tony Ellwood last year. "And of course it wouldn't be a Dior exhibition without their sculptural tailoring, their signature ball gowns and their glamorous evening dresses which have become synonymous with the fashion house."

"Audiences will discover the nuances of Dior's fashion design, and observe the ways in which these have evolved through the decades. The exhibition will also celebrate the milestones of Dior's six successive designers," he added.

A key element of the exhibition will be an exploration of Dior's historic 1948 spring fashion parade at David Jones in Sydney, considered to be the first complete Dior collection to be shown outside of Paris. The exhibition will also tie in with the gallery's first ever Gala Ball on Sunday.

Images: Installation view of House of Dior: Seventy Years of Haute Couture at the National Gallery of Victoria. Shot by Sean Fennessy.

Published on August 25, 2017 by Tom Clift
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