Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Christian-Dior Museum is housed in the villa Les Rhumbs, a Belle Époque style home built at the end of the 19th century on the heights of Granville, Normandy. This house, acquired by Christian Dior's parents when he was only one year old, was the frame of his childhood and summers up to adulthood. The garden, designed by her mother Madeleine, housed roses and muguets, flowers that became emblematic of her creations. The villa, named after the 32 dots of a wind rose, marked its style deeply, as it later said: "My life, my style owes almost everything to its situation and architecture. »

The Dior family left Granville for Paris when Christian was six, but kept the villa until the 1930s. After the death of his mother and the ruin of his father, the city of Granville bought Les Rumbs in 1938 to make it a public garden, avoiding its destruction. In the 1990s, under the impetus of Jean-Luc Dufresne and with the financial support of the Dior house, the villa was transformed into a museum. Labelled "Musée de France", it is the only one entirely dedicated to a designer, highlighting its link to this inspirational place, notably through annual exhibitions and a rose garden renovated in the 2000s.

The museum's exhibitions explore the themes that are dear to Dior, such as nature (Dior, garden side in 2001), travel (La Mode en voyage en 1999), or artistic collaborations (Le Bal des Artistes in 2011). Highlights include Dior, the New Look Revolution (2015), celebrating his legacy, or Grace de Monaco, Princesse en Dior (2019), illustrating the influence of his creations. The garden, which he built himself at 20 years old with a water and a pergola, remains a living tribute to his universe, between botany and elegance.

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