A NEW ERA

As the latest incarnation of Miss Dior launches, we talk to its long-time face, Natalie Portman, and ask how she has evolved with the iconic fragrance over a decade

- SALLY HUNWICK

There is a truth in the belief that from adversity comes growth; enlightenment that could not have happened without the dark times. It’s certainly the case for Miss Dior, a fragrance borne out of Christian Dior’s desire for a spark of brightness after the world had spent years in turmoil.

As with anything truly iconic, the story of Miss Dior started with a desire to fill a collective need. Christian Dior wanted to rekindle a moment of daily joy in women’s lives after World War II had ended and so asked his perfumer to create a fragrance that “smells of love”. Bottling such an all-encompassing feeling is a tall order, even for one of the world’s leading design houses, but when this floral fragrance launched in 1947 it was into a world in need of an uplift. Named after Christian Dior’s sister, Catherine, a French Resistance fighter in the war, the fragrance was both a nod to female empowerment and an offering of joy. It hit a chord with women instantly.

With the scent bursting with florals, the designer’s lofty goals of an olfactory ode to love were realised. As a result, seven decades on, Miss Dior remains a firm fixture on many a bedroom vanity.

Today we are in the midst of another global crisis and so it is fitting that Miss Dior receives an update to bring it firmly into the modern day. And it is perhaps even more appropriate that a female icon of our era such as Natalie Portman should be its muse.

Portman has been the face of Miss Dior for 11 years and it is apt that the fashion house has kept her for this new chapter of Miss Dior; this year, the star celebrates her own milestone by turning 40.