A look back: 70 years of Christian Dior

"It's quite a revolution, dear Christian! Your dresses have such a new look!" said Carmel Snow, the former editor-in-chief of the American edition of Harper's Bazaar when Dior unveiled his first collection in 1947. The exhibition at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris is the largest ever retrospective of the Dior fashion house.

Dior was friends with numerous artists, such as Salvador Dali and Jean Cocteau. The curators have included several portraits of Dior throughout the exhibition, including this one painted by German artist Paul Strecker in 1928.

While Dior was a lover of Art Nouveau and 19th-century art, he also collected sculptures and painting made by his contemporaries. "Retrospective bust of a woman," one of Dali's first pieces, was on display at the Dior exhibit.

Dior often took inspiration from paintings for his designs. Here, the Madeleine gown almost feels as if it came straight out of Giovanni Boldini's "Portrait of Madame R.I.", at left.

This gown, created by Raf Simons for a Miss Dior commercial, looks like an impressionist painting. It is made of mousseline fabric.

Dior's successors, such as John Galliano, kept the designer's touch while incorporating their own perspective. These two gowns by Galliano were inspired by primitive art.

"Dovima and the Elephants," an iconic photo by American fashion and portrait photographer Richard Avedon, was taken in 1955 and is considered one of the most important pictures in fashion history. The gown worn by the model was designed by Yves Saint Laurent for Dior.

Maria Grazia Chiuri, creative director at Dior since July 2016, was the first women to succeed Christian Dior as head of the fashion house. She has blended her own personal style with the unmistakable Dior silhouette.

The world-famous Dior silhouette, overly feminine, was inspired by paintings. "There's a clear inspiration from silhouette from the 18th and 19th centuries," explained Olivier Gabet, the museum's director. Taking a note from this, the exhibition ends in a ballroom filled with glittering ball gowns, some previously worn by movie stars.