Who is Miss Dior? 7 things to know about the French resistance fighter who inspired the iconic fragrance
The name Miss Dior is widely recognised as one of the most enduring perfume names in fashion and beauty. Since its first release in 1947, it has appeared on bottles, bags and in advertising from the House of Dior. Less widely understood is the life behind that name. Miss Dior was a real person well before it was a fragrance, and her experiences during the Second World War, her survival of Nazi persecution and her life after the conflict shaped her reputation within her family and, ultimately, the Dior brand itself. Here are seven things to know about the woman known as Miss Dior and the context in which her name first became associated with an iconic scent.
Read more: Upgrade your beauty routine with Dior Addict‘s new lip oils and perfumes
Her name was Catherine Dior, sister of designer Christian Dior
Miss Dior refers to Catherine Dior, born Ginette Dior in 1917 in Granville, France. She was the youngest of five Dior siblings and the only sister of the fashion designer Christian Dior. Her parents were Maurice and Madeleine Dior, and her upbringing included time in Normandy before her family’s fortunes waned during the economic crises of the 1930s.
She joined the French Resistance
During the German occupation of France in the Second World War, Catherine Dior became involved with the F2 network, a Resistance cell linked to French, British and Polish intelligence services. Her work included courier duties and gathering information on German troop movements, activities that were both essential and dangerous.
She was arrested and deported
In July 1944, Catherine Dior was arrested in Paris by the Gestapo, the German secret state police. She was subjected to torture and subsequently deported to the Ravensbrück women’s concentration camp, a facility notorious for harsh conditions and forced labour. She is recorded as having survived this imprisonment until liberation.
She earned recognition for her wartime service
After the war, Catherine received several honours for her work with the Resistance. French decorations included the Croix de Guerre and Cross of the Resistance Volunteer Combatant, and she was made a Chevalière of the Legion of Honour. She also received the British King’s Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom.
She had a lifelong connection to flowers
Before the war, Catherine shared with her brother Christian a love of flowers and gardening. After the conflict and her return to France, she became involved in flower trading and farming, a pursuit linked to both personal passion and family influence. The floral world was already central to the Dior family’s life before it became central to the perfume that bears her nickname.
Miss Dior the perfume was named in her honour
Miss Dior perfume carries more than floral notes; it honours Catherine Dior, whose courage in the French Resistance inspired its name (Photo: Dior Beauty/Instagram)
When Christian Dior launched his fashion house and introduced Miss Dior as the first fragrance in 1947, he chose the name as a tribute to his sister. The perfume’s launch coincided with Dior’s debut couture collection, sometimes called the “New Look”, marking a moment of cultural shift in postwar France. One account holds that the name came about spontaneously when Catherine walked into the room during discussions about the perfume’s name.
Don't miss: How aldehydes changed the way perfumes are made and experienced
She supported Dior’s legacy later in life
After Christian Dior’s death in 1957, Catherine Dior remained involved in preserving his work. She was the honorary president of the Musée Christian Dior in Granville, a museum dedicated to her brother’s life and work. She died in 2008 at the age of 90, leaving behind both personal and familial legacies intertwined with fashion and history.
The name Miss Dior thus carries both the weight of a real life lived through conflict and survival and the history of an enduring fashion and fragrance house. It began as a tribute to a sister’s resilience and has become a cultural reference in its own right, with the fragrance line evolving across decades even as it remains linked to the origins of its name.
NOW READ
A shocking life? 10 things to know about surrealist fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli
Jung Kook of BTS is the new ambassador for Chanel Beauty
Valentino Gravami dies at 93: fashion's last emperor leaves behind a legacy of Italian elegance