about the book
Young Clara Nohant is nervous. It is February 12, 1947 and this is her first assignment reporting for the fashion magazine Le Jardin des Modes. She waits impatiently in the nippy weather with “the creme de la crème” of Paris outside 30 Avenue Montaign. Rumors spread about this new unknown haute courtier designer. The Dior family were Normandy industrialists who manufactured fertilizers and detergents and were ruined by the Great Depression. What could Christian Dior possibly bring to the fashion scene?
The fashion house’s interior is far from what Clara expects. Instead of modern chic, it is filled with Rococo excesses and Louis XVI satins. But it is the fashion show itself that takes Clara’s breath away. In a time when the weary post-war world is still reeling from shortages and boxy practical suits, these dresses are billowy wasp-waisted fashions with yards of swirling skirts!
Clara Nohant is swept into the very real world of Christian Dior, perhaps the greatest couturier in history, during the last ten years of his life. Readers will get to know his “Four Darlings,” who supported Christian from the conception of his designs to their presentation. Margurite Carre, often referred to as Lady Couture, transforms his sketches into dresses; Raymond Zehnacker is his loyal assistant; Mitzah Bricard is his style muse; and finally, Suzanne Luling knows the fashion elite inside out!
A whirlwind of modistes, drapers, pattern makers, cutters sewers, models, magazine editors, and Hollywood icons surrounds the designer—and his little dog, Bobby. It is a glamorous life but also one filled with hard work and endless hours. And during this journey, Clara goes from chronicler to one of Christian’s customers, models, and confidantes. The story will make any future fashion designer shiver!
This biographic docudrama ends with a timeline for Christian Dior’s life as well as listings and descriptions of fashion careers, couture fabrics and accessories, and Dior’s entourage, including the famous stars Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart!
about the author/illustrator
Annie Goetzinger is a readily recognized name in France. She is an award-winning author, illustrator, costume designer, and one of the few female French comic artists. In 2014, she was awarded the Grand Prize BD Boum, the first woman to win this award. Annie began making comics because her art school required that she draw at least one in order to graduate!
Since then, she has gone on to develop her own Art Nouveau influenced style and feminine point of view. She has published a variety of comics and has contributed to several magazines. Her career took off in 1977 when her first graphic novel, Casque d’or, won two prizes at the prestigious Festival d’Angoulême. She went on to do a second graphic novel about the life of the French writer George Sand and that was followed by crime and historical comic books. Her stories frequently address humanitarian issues such as AIDS.
Girl in Dior, which took two years to research, write, and illustrate, is Annie’s first graphic novel published in English. While studying Dior’s autobiography, she learned that he was a shy man who made a name for himself very quickly. Sadly, it was only ten years after his first collection was shown at 30 Avenue Montaign that Dior died of a heart attack while at work.
Annie also carefully researched the time period and interviewed Dior’s dressmakers. They were all teens at the time and it was a great adventure for them. Annie’s greatest thrill came when she contacted the House of Dior and was given permission to research their archives and photos! Hopefully, this grandes dames of French comic art will write another graphic novel about one of the other haute couture modistes!
Sources:
Author interview: Comic Book Resources
Author biography: French Culture
Author biography: Graphic Novel Reporter
Also by Annie Goetzinger:
Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen. NBM Publishing. August 2016.
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