BLOOM OF YOUTH

The tale of two Miss Diors: the perfume, and the woman who inspired it; and how they are as relevant now as ever.

- ANNABELLE FERNANDEZ

For a perfume to last, it must first have lasted for a long time in the hearts of those who created it,” Christian Dior once said. Miss Dior was launched in 1947, the same year that the House of Dior launched its first fashion collection. The brand’s first fragrance has since become one of its most enduring icons, alongside the icon that emerged from that now-legendary debut collection, the Bar jacket.

As Monsieur Dior’s quote implies, unlike what one might assume about a perfume from a fashion house, Miss Dior was no mere afterthought. In fact, it took years to come to fruition: “For four years, we worked and researched, like alchemists in search of the philosopher’s stone. And then, Miss Dior was born.” After all, there’s a reason why Christian Dior is known as a couturier-perfumer, a term that came about because of what he said about the perfume creation process: “The public has little idea of the care and worry which goes into the search for a new perfume, which they see simply in a little packet. It is such an absorbing occupation that today I feel myself as much a parfumier as a couturier.”

Seventy-seven years on, Frédéric Bourdelier, director of brand culture and heritage for Christian Dior Parfums, echoes this sentiment when speaking to us in Tokyo, Japan, where we have gathered for the opening of the “Miss Dior: Stories of a Miss” exhibition. “To talk about Miss Dior is to talk about the history of the House. It’s a question of flowers, of fashion, of femininity, of fragrance, of codes.” Each of these elements are integral to the Maison; as is the namesake of the fragrance, Catherine Dior.

THE HISTORY OF MISS DIOR