Christian Dior (1905-1957) was born in Normandy, France. At his parents' insistence, he studied political science. After military service and several years of indecision, he returned to Paris in 1935 and began his design career by selling sketches. His hat designs were initially more successful than his dress designs. But he concentrated on his dress designs and was hired by Robert Piguet in 1938. During the war, Dior served in the South of France, then returned again to Paris in 1941 and worked for Lucien Lelong, a much larger design house. In 1946, he was able to open his own house, backed by textile manufacturer Marcel Boussac. For his first collection in 1947, Christian Dior created the extremely popular "New Look", which featured rounded shoulders, a cinched waist, and a very full skirt. Dior created an opulent clothing style which contrasted the severe living conditions of post-war France.

Currently, Dior operates 60 boutiques worldwide, 15 of them in Japan. Clothing is exclusively sold in the Dior stores. Other retailers only carry licensed Dior products like eye-wear, lingerie, ties, Bady Dior clothing, perfumes, and other accessories. Since LVMH acquired in 1997 the Duty Free Shoppers (DFS) group of stores, which are mostly located in Asia, the Dior distribution has been expanded to the 165 DFS-outlets.