Christian Dior exhibition sweeps into London

From the haute couture gown worn by Princess Margaret on her 21st birthday to the red-carpet dress donned by Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi, the Christian Dior exhibition at London's V&A brings together an extensive look into the garments of the French fashion giant.

Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams spans from 1947 to the present day and features more than 500 objects. The show boasts more than 200 rare haute couture garments that are shown alongside accessories, fashion photography, film, vintage perfume, original make-up, illustrations, magazines, and Christian Dior's personal possessions.

The exhibition has been described as the largest and most comprehensive fashion show to be staged in the United Kingdom since the V&A museum's Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty in 2015.

Highlight pieces at the Dior exhibition include a dress specially designed by Christian Dior for Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II, which is on loan from the Museum of London.

The exhibition was previously shown in Paris two years ago at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs.

Connie Karol Burks, assistant curator of the exhibition, said: "The exhibition looks at 70 years of haute couture at the House of Christian Dior, so, we start with Christian Dior, the man himself, and look into the impact he had over his 10-year tenure at the house, and also the six subsequent art directors at the House of Dior, and the impact they had on fashion through the last 70 years."

The exhibition is spread more than 11 rooms, with one called The New Look focusing on Dior's famed Bar Suit. Another, Dior in Britain, explores the designer's love affair with British culture and his British clients' reciprocal love of his fashion.

"The Bar Suit is the first garment you see when you enter the exhibition," Burks said. "We're very excited to have it on display. It's a V&A object that was donated to the museum in 1960, after the museum requested it from Dior … It really epitomizes his New Look that was so important at the time."

Burks said the show offers an exciting opportunity for people to view the incredible "skill and craftsmanship up-close, and see the amazing embroideries and embellishments done by the haute couture atelier in Paris".

The exhibition organizers have dedicated a room to the six artistic directors who have succeeded the designer by showing the work of Yves Saint Laurent, who led the house at the age of 21 following Dior's death, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferre, John Galliano, Raf Simons, and the fashion giant's current and first female artistic director, Maria Grazia Chiuri.

Oriole Cullen, fashion and textiles curator at the V&A, said: "The influence of Christian Dior's design was all-pervasive and helped to define an era. In their own individual ways, each of the house's successive artistic directors have referenced and reinterpreted Dior's own designs and continued the legacy of the founder, ensuring that the House of Christian Dior is at the forefront of fashion today."

Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams opens at London's V&A Museum on Saturday.