When we buy a bottle of perfume, we very rarely think of its heritage or what inspired its creation. The biography ‘Miss Dior’ tells the remarkable story of Catherine Dior, the beloved younger sister of Christian Dior who inspired his most famous perfume.
Growing up
Born in 1917, Catherine grew up in the Normandy town of Granville, overlooking the English channel. There she and her brother Christian helped their mother in the garden, where Catherine inherited her mother’s love of roses. At the tender age of thirteen, her mother died and the Wall Street crash triggered the bankruptcy of her father’s business. The family was forced to relocate to Les Naysses, a remote region of Provence. She subsequently returned to Paris when Christian offered her an escape route.
The outbreak of war
However, when war was declared in 1939, Christian was required to do military service and Catherine had to return to Les Naysses at the end of the summer of 1940. During her time there, she met a hero in the French Resistance, a married man called Herve des Charbonneries. This was an encounter which would change her life forever. She began working for the Resistance. However, as the Germans extended their occupation in Vichy France, she was forced to leave again. She rejoined Christian in Paris where she continued to work for the Resistance on intelligence missions.
Deportation
However, by July 1944, the Gestapo had caught up with her and she was arrested, imprisoned in Fresnes on the southern fringes of Paris. She was subsequently deported to Ravensbruck concentration camp in August. There she was forced to do backbreaking work, living in squalor and overcrowded conditions. By Feb 1945, she had been moved to another satellite camp near Leipzig before being forced to leave on a ‘death march’ as the Allied Forces closed in. She escaped the death march in Dresden, arriving back in Paris at the end of May 1945. There she was met by Christian who sadly did not recognise her at first due to her emaciation.
The perfume
Later that year, and feeling well enough, she returned to Paris with Herve, having been granted a licence to sell fresh flowers grown in Provence to florists in Paris. Her brother Christian established his own ‘maison’. With the help of perfumer Paul Vacher, he was closely involved in the creation of his first scent, wanting to create ‘ a perfume that smells of love’. They finally reached a distinctive formula using Provencal jasmine and roses, two of the flowers most cherished by Christian and Catherine. Legend has it that Christian was musing about what the perfume should be called when Catherine walked into the room. One of Christian’s business partners is reported to have said ‘ Tiens ! Voila Miss Dior !’
The roses
In 1957, Christian Dior died at the age of 52. Catherine gave up her flower business in Paris. She moved permanently back to Les Naysses in Provence (which she had inherited from her father). There she concentrated on the cultivation of roses and jasmine – ‘she was completely absorbed by her roses and her vines’, until she died at the age of 90. To this day, roses grown in the fields are harvested and sent to Grasse. There, their essence is distilled to become the key ingredients of Miss Dior perfume.
The biography
Published in 2021, and written by Justine Picardie, this biography of Catherine Dior is a substantial read (approx 400 pages). It has been researched in painstaking detail and packed with documentary and fashion photography from the time. It is an exceptional story, full of contrasts and in parts a distressing read. However, I was struck by the love that Christian had for his sister and by Catherine’s incredible bravery and quiet resilience. What stood out too was her lifelong love of roses. I can only imagine what solace they must have given her in the face of the horrors she had experienced, but rarely spoke about. Ultimately, it is an inspiring book that gives us hope and I am glad I took the time to discover Catherine’s story.
You can find out more here – https://www.faber.co.uk/author/justine-picardie/
Wishing you all a lovely Sunday
Paula x
Catherine and Herve after the war ..photo taken from the Vogue website.
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