With Dior set for an iconic return to Scotland, we look back at the 1955 show at Glasgow’s Central Hotel.
This evening the fashion giant will launch their ‘Cruise 2025’ line at Drummond Castle Gardens in Perthshire. The prestigious event will see celebrities and fashion icons flock to Scotland to watch the campaign come to life.
Tonight’s event will mark the return of Dior 69 years on.
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In 1955, Christian Dior held two fashion shows at the Central Hotel in Glasgow and the Gleneagles hotel in Perthshire. The launch of the collection also raised money for the Friends of France, an organisation, which organises exchange visits for Scottish and French school children, reports the Record.
The collection was so prestigious that it was transported to Scotland via a private plane and was insured for £60,000.
In Christian Dior’s autobiography, which was published in 1956 a year before his death, he wrote about the 1955 shows in Scotland.
He said: “After the show, there was an unexpected contrast which delighted my French eyes: The parade of girls in their delicate evening dresses was succeeded by Scottish reels danced by magnificent Scottish gentlemen in their kilts.
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“It looked wonderful, but beneath the frenzied stampings of the dancers, the floor shook and bounced, and we were all nervous that it would collapse.
“Noticing the worried expressions on our faces, the Lord Provost told us that the wooden floor was specially constructed to shake beneath our feet, in order to give the reels added animation.”
Take a look at some stunning images here…
A model on the catwalk during Dior’s 1955 show at the Central Hotel, Glasgow
Onlookers backstage
Christian Dior flew eight models, six staff and 172 dresses to Scotland
Christian Dior with models backstage in Glasgow
Behind the scenes
A model putting on jewellery backstage at the Central Hotel, Glasgow
Hotel staff and guests at the 1955 Glasgow show
A model on the catwalk
A photographer is reflected in a mirror as he takes a picture of a model backstage