Where Dior began: a journey through Christian Dior’s childhood home in Normandy

Across 250 pieces – ranging from ballooning mid-century ball gowns designed for the aristocracy to a minute card announcing Dior’s birth in 1905 – the exhibition stages a constant dialogue between haute couture and the home where he took his first steps. Though converted to suit the requirements of a museum setting, Richart’s curation highlights its domestic roots. In Maurice Dior’s erstwhile office, the display examines Christian’s inherited entrepreneurial spirit. When he was a child, the Dior name was associated with fertiliser and not fashion; marketing materials and Dior-stamped burlap sacks, which once transported industrial quantities of fertiliser across Europe, line the walls, revealing how the couturier absorbed his father’s business-minded prowess. Dior pioneered early ‘logomania,’ adopting bold commercial tactics evidenced in the heavily branded ready-to-wear collection on display in the adjacent room. Though he placed himself at the very heart of his work, Dior was by nature a private and shy man who sought the quietude which Villa Les Rhumbs provided in his early life. Memories of a Childhood represents how he constantly toed the line between his public and private personas.

The exhibition is an adventure through Dior’s story

Raphael Dautigny

With only 50 visitors allowed inside at a time, the exhibition is inherently intimate. Perhaps the most reflective space is in the tiny nook which was once Christian Dior’s bedroom. Here lies his personal talisman: a metal star which he found on a Parisian pavement in 1946 just before founding his couture house. A deeply superstitious man, who regularly confided in a trusted fortune teller, Dior relied on emblems which continued to make their way into his designs. A dramatic John Galliano evening gown and a Maria Grazia Chiuri jumpsuit, both embellished with bold constellations and on display behind the lucky star, show how subsequent creative directors were passionate about referencing these motifs.

Some of the more extravagant designs from the fashion house’s past

Raphael Dautigny

Journeying to Villa Les Rhumbs feels like a pilgrimage that rewards visitors with tangible insight into a designer whose name and designs everyone knows, yet whose origins rarely receive the attention they deserve. Memories of a Childhood could not have been exhibited anywhere but here. Nowhere else would have the same reflective or resounding impact. Looking out from the villa over landscapes virtually unchanged since his childhood, it becomes clear why Christian Dior kept looking back.

Christian Dior, Memories of a Childhood is on display until 1 November 2026. From €10; concessions available.