The V&A museum has announced that Christian Dior: Designer of Dreamsis its most-visited exhibition ever.
The show, which ran from 2 February to 1 September 2019, reached a total of 594, 994 visitors, surpassing the former record set by 2015’s Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty by over 100,000 attendees.
“The V&A has a history of staging revelatory fashion exhibitions, so we knew that Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams would be popular, but we have been overwhelmed by the phenomenal visitor response since it opened in February,” Tristram Hunt, director of the V&A, said.
“I would like to thank all our visitors who have gone to such great lengths to experience this extraordinary show.”
The most comprehensive exhibition ever staged in the UK on the House of Dior, Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams traced the history and impact of the brand from 1947 to the present day.
Based on the major exhibition Christian Dior: Couturier du Rêve, organised by the Musée des Arts Décoratif in Paris in 2017, the reimagined version for the V&A boasted more than 60 per cent of the objects previously unique to the Paris exhibition, and a brand-new section exploring the designer’s fascination with British culture.
Exhibits included dresses made for Princess Margaret on her 21st birthday, ballerina Margot Fonteyn and Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence.
Also on display were more than 200 rare Haute Couture garments shown alongside accessories, fashion photography, film, vintage perfume, original make-up, illustrations, magazines, and Christian Dior’s personal possessions.
In March, the V&A announced that the exhibition had been extended for an additional seven weeks due to popular demand after tickets for the entire run sold out in three weeks after opening.
The V&A extended the exhibition for seven weeks due to popular demand (Dior/V&A)
Throughout the extended run, the V&A released a number of exhibition tickets, while a limited quantity were also available to purchase daily on a first-come, first-served basis.
Read The Independent’s review of Christian Dior: Designer of Dreamshere.
