Fashion History 101 | Chanel vs. Dior — That Chic Happens

Chanel detested Dior. She has been quoted as saying: “Look how ridiculous these women are, wearing clothes by a man who doesn’t know women, never had one and dreams of being one.” She didn’t stop there, either. At various points she was quoted as saying, “Dior doesn’t dress women. He upholsters them.” and that a woman sitting down in a Dior dress looked like ‘an old armchair.’ She also accused Dior of dragging women back to 19th-century ideals of femininity – that women were objects to be admired by men.  While Chanel did have a point, as we can associate the new look’s evolution parallel to women’s places “in the home,” it seems more of a competitive remark and personal dig at a male designer who was being ushered into the ranks of Paris couture. Dior’s “New Look” collection returned Parisian couture to the forefront of the fashion industry since WWII. We brought up earlier that Chanel came back to fashion in 1954 and that some viewed it as a personal dig at Dior. While Chanel did not like the designs of Dior or his male contemporaries, Chanel’s goal was to not make women feel as if their dress was a disguise, but rather comfortable and timeless. Chanel would not win the competition during the early 1950s but she would re-establish herself later on in the decade and well into the 1960s when her Chanel suit became the quintessential silhouette and must-have fashion look. She was finally able to shed her “1920s skin.” Dior, unfortunately, passed away in 1957 but his legacy endures and is still one of the most celebrated haute couture designers of all time.