Christian Dior’s iconic Bar jacket celebrates 73 years of fashion excellence.

Monsieur Christian Dior&rsquo;s debut collection created quite the&nbsp;buzz in 1947. Participating European countries were slowly but&nbsp;steadily recovering from the aftermath of war and there was&nbsp;an optimism in the air from a returning prosperity.

Backed by&nbsp;millionaire textile manufacturer Marcel Boussac, Mssr Dior&rsquo;s&nbsp;first-ever Spring collection was launched on the 12th of February&nbsp;1947 after the opening of his eponymous couture house mere&nbsp;months ago. It was an instant hit, with Carmel Snow&mdash;editor of&nbsp;Harper&rsquo;s Bazaar US&mdash;calling it the &ldquo;New Look&rdquo;.

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One of the collection&rsquo;s most iconic looks was the &ldquo;Bar&rdquo;: a calflength,&nbsp;knife-pleated wool skirt worn with a soft-shouldered&nbsp;shantung silk jacket that was cinched at the waist and gently&nbsp;padded at the hips, giving its wearer a perfectly sculpted&nbsp;hourglass figure. It was the first sign of a new spring, signalling&nbsp;regrowth and a welcome celebration of the feminine form.

The hardships and austerity of war were giving way to an&nbsp;extravagance that felt joyous and bold, as the 42-year-old&nbsp;designer&rsquo;s newly found brand spearheaded the revival of Paris&nbsp;as the fashion capital of the world. Mssr Dior&rsquo;s collection was&nbsp;lauded even further afield as he was awarded the prestigious&nbsp;Neiman Marcus Fashion Award in Dallas later that year.

The&nbsp;wasp waist with either a full or figure-hugging skirt would be&nbsp;the definitive silhouette of the &rsquo;50s, with Mssr Dior part of the&nbsp;vanguard of couturiers to ring the changes until his untimely&nbsp;death in 1957.

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Through every change of hand&mdash;from Yves Saint Laurent to&nbsp;Marc Bohan, John Galliano, Raf Simons and Maria Grazia&nbsp;Chiuri&mdash;the Bar jacket has remained an icon of Dior, and has&nbsp;been revisited in a range of colours, fabrics and proportions. It&nbsp;strikes the perfect balance between sensuality and power&mdash;a&nbsp;tour de force of the savoir faire of its ateliers at 30 Avenue&nbsp;Montaigne. Best jacket, bar none.

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Visit <a href="https://www.dior.com/en_int">dior.com</a> to find out more.

Raising the Bar: 73 years of Christian Dior's Bar jacket

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