Dior in Moscow
The Second World War radically rearranged Europe’s political landscape. The Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall divided Europe into two separate areas (the Eastern and Western Blocs).
It was therefore with surprise that the House of Dior (headed by Yves Saint-Laurent after the death of Christian Dior, the founder, in 1957) held a fashion show in Moscow in 1959. The precise reasons are difficult to gauge, one can only make assumptions. It can be presumed that the Communist Party leadership aimed to show its opening to the Western world and European fashion, on one hand, and wanted to make its citizens aware that French fashion was indeed tastefully classic but was definitely not for the citizens of Moscow, who should not yearn for such clothes, on the other hand.
The aim of the House of Dior was much clearer: French fashion models parading around Red Square and local markets caused a sensation, and a number of articles would be devoted to the extraordinary scene.
The fashion show took place in the House of Culture, decorated in the French tricolours in honour of the fashion house. There were 11,000 invitations to the five-day fashion show (fashion shows used to last for days), which were sent only to the higher members of the Communist Party and to Soviet elite.
However, besides the formal runway show, to allow commoners to have a look at the models in their beautiful outfits, three out of twelve models strolled through Moscow to meet locals. LIFE magazine photographer Howard Sochurek recorded all amazing moments and made striking pictures of the models of the House of Dior visiting Red Square, local markets and GUM department store, the Russian equivalent of Harrods department store in London or of Lafayette shopping centre in Paris.
The Dior fashion show was castigated as a show far from a resounding success in many Soviet newspapers of the time. Pravda wrote that the clothes created by the French fashion designer were too open and short, therefore, they would not look good on Soviet women who were stout and short in stature, in contrast with the French models who were tall and slender—however, the allegation that the majority of Soviet women were short and stout was not necessarily the case for the members of high society who could have afforded to buy these clothes.
