DIOR Miss Dior Esprit de Parfum Original

“Make me a fragrance that smells of love!” Christian Dior said to his nose to create “Miss Dior”, and evidently this beautiful fragrance, which has managed to transcend eras and trends, still gives as much love as it has received, despite the decades.

The birth of Miss Dior and the “New Look”

Miss Dior is an attitude, a creature, a tribute, born in the first days of 1947, and it has never aged a day, states Madame Le Figaro. Like a successful fragrance that declared itself from the very birth of the concept without ever losing its edge, “Miss Dior”, the first fragrance by Christian Dior sprayed on his very first haute-couture clients, never goes out of style.

When Dior wanted to create a fragrance bearing his name, he wanted it to be chypre like its illustrious predecessor “Chypre” by Coty, while also being fresh and green like the admirable “Vent-Vert”; he wanted the fragrance of love. But that was not all, as Christian Dior also wished to create Miss Dior so as to see all of his dresses emerge one by one from the bottle, nothing less!

To create this noble fragrance, Paul Vacher made a selection of fine raw materials, while Fernand Guéry-Colas designed a truly luxurious bottle in the form of a Baccarat amphora, distributed very sparingly to the most loyal clients.

In 1950, under the impetus of illustrator René Gruau, who advertised “Miss Dior” by depicting it with a black swan adorned with a diamond around its neck, the bottle took on its definitive rectangular shape, its glass engraved with the imprint of the highly symbolic houndstooth fabric embodying the Dior spirit. “Cut like a tailored suit”, the new look of “Miss Dior” is now much more modern, not to mention that a delicate bow was added around the neck of the bottle, to recall Gruau's swan.

The very first fragrance from the famous haute-couture house Christian Dior

After years and decades of success, the famous green chypre “Miss Dior” was renamed “Miss Dior Original” in 2011, to leave its name and place to its fine successor “Miss Dior Chérie”, which simultaneously became “Miss Dior”.

Whether called “Miss Dior Original” or “Miss Dior”, the fragrance introduced by Christian Dior's team in the aftermath of the Second World War offers bold and thoroughly avant-garde chypre freshness. The top notes reveal powerful, fresh galbanum, which carries in its wake zesty bergamot notes and aromatic clary sage notes propelled by lovely aldehydic notes.

The heart offers a magnificent floral bouquet of Sambac jasmine absolute enhanced with Grasse rose absolute, along with lovely armfuls of gardenia, narcissus, neroli and carnation spiced with a touch of clove. The sensual and deep chypre sillage of “Miss Dior Original” is built around traditional notes of oakmoss, labdanum and sandalwood, highlighted by intoxicating Indonesian patchouli, all powdered with a few touches of iris.

Any fragrance that upends the habits and customs of its era withstands changes in trends and currents far better than others. “Miss Dior”, the venerable 1947 fragrance, is about to celebrate its 70th anniversary while still living on in women's hearts. According to François Demachy, who reinterpreted “Miss Dior” to create notably “Miss Dior Chérie” in 2005, the secret to its lasting success is simple: Miss Dior creates surprise by placing a modern touch on a classic base, a green note on a chypre. It was not obvious. It is entirely the talent of the perfumers of that time, all their know-how, to have achieved such harmony.