12 February 1947 – 12 February 2017: Backstage
As the guests throng into the salons of 30 Avenue Montaigne, the excitement in the models’ cabine begins to mount. It's in this little room that they prepare to twirl in the couturier’s inaugural collection.

Eugene Kammerman/Gamma-Rapho
From the beginnings of his couture house, Christian Dior recruited a team of "young girls" to accompany him through all phases of his collection, from early fittings to the realization of his creations. In his memoirs he writes: "The dress and its models are elements that are often as inseparable as the dress and its fabric. My models are the life of my dresses.” Noëlle, Paule, Yolande, Lucile, Tania and Marie-Thérèse as a result became among his most important collaborators. Those he tenderly dubs his "chéries" are singular beauties, older or younger, sophisticated or ingénues, so that each can embody the ideal allure the couturier dreams up.
It’s almost ten-thirty; the entire cabine is on the alert. Hairdressers and make-up artists give a final brush and comb to the models, who must quickly take off their white smocks to slip on a couture design. As the premières d’atelier make the final adjustments, the dressers juggle with hats, jewelry and other accessories. Marie-Therese is on tenterhooks: she's the one opening the show. When the announcer’s voice calls out "Number One! Number one!” she passes through the gray satin curtains very quickly, almost slipping, moving from one salon to another, with a fluid, elegant and graceful gait, as far as the grand staircase. The models have the same numbers of exits, organized by category in a well-defined order. Suits and town ensembles are shown first. Then come the dressier looks: for cocktail, for evening, short or very long, a fireworks explosion of shimmering dresses sashay past to thunderous applause. Hidden away in the cabine, Monsieur Dior blocks his ears, unable to believe what's happening. As the final bouquet, richly embroidered dresses and the bride’s gown close the show. The success is indisputable. It is time to greet the guests, who cheer a couturier moved to tears. This recognition will mark his life: “Whatever happiness I might have in my life, nothing can surpass what I felt at that moment,” he would write in his memoirs.