Dior Exhibition at the V&A is Not One to Miss

When entering the exhibition, it appeared almost like the entrance to a mansion and had dressed mannequins stood at the windows. The entrance started off the exhibition with Dior’s infamous ‘The New Look’ collection in honour of his original work. The extravagant entrance was able to express the high stature of Dior’s brand.

The first room, rather fittingly, took me to Christian Dior’s next collection. The similar silhouette of the dresses brought uniformity to the pieces. Not only were the pieces themselves stunning, but also the design of the space itself. Each of the sleek mannequins were placed in boxes that were outlined by bright LED lights. This affect drew the pieces straight to my eyes, and brought the display to another level. In addition to the outline of lights, there were also mirrors which reflected the dresses making it appear like there are an infinite number of pieces. 

From the first room, the second room seems to be a bit more toned down, but interesting nonetheless. Stood in the centre, enclosed in a glass case, was the dress that Christian Dior himself made for Princess Margaret for her 21st birthday. The shape of the dress was fascinating, but equally important was the embroidery on the dress that made it stand out even more. On the back wall behind the

 centre dress were other dresses that appeared to be from around the same time period. A positive aspect of the exhibit was that every piece came with context. Most of the dresses had a little caption about the history of the dress. Dresses that the curators wanted to highlight, like Princess Margaret’s dress, had jewellery or other ‘props’ accompanying it.

The next room felt like a garden party. The room was much brighter than the previous room, and had walls painted with grass and trees. Each of the dresses were of a light colour pallet and were grouped with alike colours. In the centre there was a pavilion with a group of white dresses. No two of those dresses looked alike which made each placement seem purposeful. Another aspect of the exhibit that was nice was how close people could get to the dresses. Apart from the few dresses enclosed in glass, most dresses were really close to the walkway, meaning it was easy to see the detail of the dresses which is arguably one of the most interesting parts of the dresses. Though not every dress in the room appealed to me, I was able to appreciate the differences in design. Probably my favourite part of the experience was the excitement that would amount for the next room. At the corner of each room there was a glimpse of the next which gave a sneak peek into the colour and glitter that awaited. 

The following room was dubbed the international room, which emphasised where Dior took inspiration from other countries. In my opinion, this was one of the best rooms in the exhibition. I thought that each of the dresses were really unique, but at the same time they tied together really well. There were influences from Asia, Africa, and South America and more which brought new style that added a lot to the exhibit. Looking at each of the dresses respectively brought me to another place. This room truly brought about a different type of deign that wasn’t there in previous rooms. 

The next room gave a feel for spring and was brighter than the room before. One of the reasons the exhibit was able to retain my attention so well was because each room was so unique. Each of the pieces had some floral aspect to it which brought the room together. Stood in the centre in another one of the cylindrical glass cases was a gown with dyed feathers which give the appearance of flowers. Once again the detail in each piece was not missed, especially with the intricate embroidery that was on these dresses.

Next the exhibit brought me to a room which gave some history of Dior’s creative directors. The most interesting part of this was seeing not only the evolution of fashion, but also the evolution of who the directors were. The first five of the six directors of Dior were men and only in the last couple of years has there been a female creative director. Even though the pieces designed under the male directors were beautiful, it was different seeing dresses for women made by a woman. 

When walking into the next room, I didn’t really know what it was, my first thought went to wedding dresses because they were all white, but after taking a look around I quickly realised the dresses were ‘toiles’ from the ateliers which are like an outline of the piece.  The room was bright and completely white, giving it an almost heavenly feel. It was interesting to see the starting point of the dresses, especially when I could recognise the outlines from previous dresses in the exhibition.

The next part of the exhibit went to a long hallway where to the right there were magazine covers with celebrities wearing Dior, and on the left there were different Dior accessories like jewellery, shoes, and handbags. The wall with accessories was organised in colour groups (a seemingly common theme throughout the exhibition). The display of these accessories shows their importance in creating an entire look.  

The next room was another one of my favourites; it was meant to mimic a ballroom. The room was filled with glitter, glitz, and glamour. The centre of the room had a rotating circular stand, while the outskirts of the room were lined with even more dresses. The room was filled with glittering lights, and even changed brightness as if it were a transition from day to night. 

I thought the final room brought the exhibit to a lovely close. There was one dress stood with mirrors surrounding it that showed every angle of the dress. Those mirrors were definitely necessary because there was something new to look at with every angle of the dress. The dress is from the 2018 spring-summer collection, and was the perfect way to bring the exhibition to an end. The dress took inspiration from 1950’s Dior, and was the perfect example of how the legacy of Dior lives on in new and innovative ways.  

Clearly there was a lot to see in the Dior exhibition, and each room, and each dress was a delight to examine. Every detail from the positioning of the mannequins to the way the dresses were lit seemed purposeful and made this exhibition one that anyone who has any interest at all in design and fashion should definitely consider checking out.