Christian Dior was a French fashion designer, born in Granville, Manche on the 21st of January 1905. He is known for founding the internationally recognised fashion house of the same name. He passed away in 1957.
How rich is Christian Dior? Sources estimate his net worth at $10 million, accumulated during his business career which actually spanned only about 20 years.
Christian Dior Net Worth $10 million
Dior grew up in a wealthy, middle class family, the second of five children, living by the sea in Normandy. Christian’s father, Maurice, manufactured and sold fertilizer. Around 1910 the family moved to Paris. From a young age, Christian expressed an interest in artistic pursuits, and began drawing and designing women’s clothing. Financed by his father, he opened an art gallery in 1928. He was forced to close when the events of the Great Depression left his family near-destitute.
It was not until 1937, that Dior became more involved in fashion, when he was hired to design for Robert Piguet. He was forced to take a brief break when called for military service, but managed to leave the army in 1942, and he took employment with Lucien Lelong, where he continued to produce fashion designs, actually for the wives of occupying Nazis, and for French collaborators during the war.
On the 8th of December 1946, Dior founded his own fashion house. He designed very luxurious outfits, which featured highly curvaceous lines, and used great amounts of fabric. The rationing of fabric during the war had led to simple fashions, and Dior was criticized for the opulence of his clothing until shortages of materials ended. He quickly gathered influential clients, from Hollywood stars to royalty, his profile rising and greatly contributing to his overall wealth. He gave a presentation of his first collection to the royal family of England, though again, due to rationing, the young princesses were not allowed to publicly wear his lavish “new look” designs.
In 1955, Dior hired Yves Saint Laurent as his assistant; he would later name Laurent as his successor.
Also in 1955, he was nominated for an Academy Award for a costume featured in “Terminal Station”, the Vittorio De Sia film. His fashion house made Paris the centre for all things sartorial. He has been referenced in various forms of media, both during his lifetime and after; even rapper Kanye West had a song called “Christian Dior Denim Flow”, which he released in 2010.
Reports of Dior’s death vary. Some sources state he died from a heart attack, induced by choking on a fish bone. Others claim that no fish bone was involved, and he died whilst playing a game of cards, or whilst having sex. The truth is unclear. All we know for sure is that he passed away on the 24th of October, 1957, in Montecatini, Italy. Over 2000 people attended his funeral. His company was, by that time, generating $20 million a year.
In his personal life, Dior was a highly superstitious individual, and often consulted a tarot card reader. He was homosexual, though details of his relationships are sparse, due to societal attitudes of the time.
