patrick demarchelier dior new couture volume 2

Christian Dior's love of flowers and gardens He tended the flame of Granville for the rest of his days, recreating the spirit of the place in colours (pink and grey), scents (rose and lily-of-the-valley), sturdy, elegant shapes, and an atmosphere of sheltered peacefulness that befits a family home.

Christian Dior always thought of Granville with “a nostalgia for stormy nights, foghorns, the death knell sounding a funeral and the Norman drizzle in the midst of which (his childhood) was spent”. Christian would wile away the hours learning by heart the names of plants and flowers from Vilmorin-Andrieux seed catalogues listening to the women sing hit of the day « L’Hirondelle de Faubourg » in the warmth of the laundry room gazing up at the ceiling rose in his bedroom. His was quite a childhood in the isolated confines of the house. The property perched above Granville, a mere kilometre outside what was “a sleepy port town for nine months of the year and (in summer turned into) an elegant quarter of Paris”. Back in 1905, the future designer still an infant, Madeleine persuaded Maurice Dior to purchase the house with the neverending vistas. With a similar strength of conviction to that displayed by her son Christian many years later with regard to the mansion at 30, Avenue Montaigne.

When Madeleine Dior first laid eyes on this villa - which resembles more a sturdy little manor than a stylish residence - she decided to make it her own.

Patrick demarchelier dior new couture volume 2