A woman, a resistance fighter, a concentration camp survivor, and a cultivator of rose gardens; that was Catherine Dior for you. The extraordinary woman who inspired the iconic Miss Dior perfume.
In 1947, right after the Second World War ended, when France desperately craved joy, Christian Dior asked perfumer Paul Vacher, “Make me a perfume that smells like love.” Soon, the perfume was made; however, Christian Dior couldn’t come up with a name for it. But a chance encounter led him to name the perfume after his sister. Here’s how:
How did Christian Dior come up with the name, Miss Dior, for his perfume?
According to a 2021 Forbes report, Christian Dior was still searching for a name for his fragrance when, during a meeting with his muse, Mitzah Bricard, his sister, Catherine Dior, walked in and Mitzah exclaimed, “Well, here comes Miss Dior.”
And that is how Christian Dior gave his beloved sister’s nickname to the iconic fragrance that has stood the test of time.
What is more incredible is that the story of that heroic woman who suffered terribly has been forgotten by history. Most people know Miss Dior as a luxury perfume. However, very few know it was inspired by a woman who survived Nazi torture and concentration camps during World War II.
Who was Chatherine Dior?
Catherine Dior is the younger sister of fashion designer Christian Dior. They were born into a wealthy family. Catherine was a remarkable botanist. According to the Anthology Magazine, after her family’s downfall, they moved to a dilapidated farmhouse in Provence.
Her life changed in 1941, when, wanting to hear Charles de Gaulle’s speeches in London, she met Hervé des Charbonneries, a passionate member of the French Resistance. He was married, with children, but they fell in love, and she joined the Resistance F2 network. She lived in Paris with Hervé and Christian.
Per Justine Picardie’s book ‘Miss Dior: A Story of Courage and Couture’, in 1944, when her brother was selling luxury in Paris, she was secretly working with the French Resistance against Nazi Germany.
Catherine was part of the F2 Resistance network, carrying intelligence about German troop movements across occupied France. She was being hunted by the Nazis. However, in July 1944, the Gestapo arrested her in Paris. During interrogations, she was brutally beaten, tortured in freezing water, and nearly drowned multiple times while Nazis demanded the names of other Resistance members.
Catherine refused to betray anyone and reportedly never gave up a single name. After the torture, she was deported to Nazi concentration camps. Somehow, she survived the starvation, disease, forced labour, and constant violence until liberation in 1945.
When Catherine returned to France after the war, she stayed away from fame and worked quietly with flowers and gardening, especially roses and jasmine. Those flowers later influenced the scent of Miss Dior. The perfume, which is now sold as a luxury product, was once named after a woman the Nazis could never break and who fought oppression and fascism.
