Christian Dior ‘Zemire’

The one dress that really caught my eye in the Victoria and Albert’s exhibition was the Christian Dior ‘Zemire’ ensemble; it was launched on 12 February 1947, which makes it 68 years old. Lady Sekers who was the wife of an innovative British textile manufacturer commissioned ‘Zemire’. The original version of this dress was made in grey satin and was shown to princess Margaret at Blenheim Palace in 1954 and it appears in several magazine features. This dress illustrated the story of how dressmaking was replaced by ready-to-wear fashion; it signifies the haute couture in the post war period. Christian Dior became on overnight sensation due to this launch. He continued to make dresses based on the hourglass shape throughout his career. By the mid 1950’s Christian Dior was producing around 12000 dresses a year. His fashion house was the most successful in the post-war era. ‘Zemire’ was a part of Dior’s H-line collection of Autumn/Winter 1954-5. This was one of the most historical designs, echoing the shape of riding habits. A ready-to-wear version was licensed to Susan Small, a British company that made ‘line-for-line’ copies for Harrods. It was sold for 22 guineas, which was very little compared to what a made-to-measure version would have cost.