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Social Sharing
Evening gown: skirt and bodice, "Junon"
Fall/Winter 1949-1950
Not on view
From the debut of his first collection in 1947
until his premature death a decade later,
Christian Dior produced garments that served
as antidotes to the austere fashions of World
War II (1939–1945), with superb construction
and tailoring, luxurious fabrics, and sumptuous
decorative treatments. The sister gowns Junon
and Venus represent the pinnacle of Dior’s
creativity. Named after the Roman goddess
of marriage and fertility, Junon features
glittering sequin embroidery on curved skirt
flounces, meant to evoke the feathers of the
goddess’s favorite bird, the peacock. With
its luminescent, seashell-like skirt flounces,
Venus honors the Roman goddess of love,
who emerged fully formed from the sea. San
Francisco–based luxury department store I.
Magnin & Company imported these two gowns
for in-store presentations along the West Coast,
before donating them to the Museums.
- Designer
- Christian Dior
- House of
- Dior
- Title
- Evening gown: skirt and bodice, "Junon"
- Date
- Fall/Winter 1949-1950
- Place of Creation
- Paris
- Object Type
- Costume
- Medium
- Silk bobbin net, silk gros de Tours, plastic sequins, gelatin sequins, and nylon horsehair
- Dimensions
- 56 x 25 in. (142.24 x 63.5 cm) Footprint (Mounted Costume (roughly circular)): 183 x 55 x 53 in. (464.821 x 139.7 x 134.62 cm)
- Credit Line
- Gift of I. Magnin & Company
- Accession Number
- 49.25.2a-b
