Perhaps the opposite of Chanel's simple, understated dresses were the highly feminine silhouettes of Christian Dior's New Look in the 1940s and 1950s. Dior was equally devoted to the idea of a little black dress as a wardrobe staple – indeed, he claimed that every woman should have one. But his version, which came just two decades after the Ford Dress, was as luxurious and feminine as Chanel's version was democratic and androgynous.
Chanel's designers have maintained the little black dress as the house's signature. Karl Lagerfeld's Pre-Fall 2018 collection was almost entirely black and included a monochrome dress with a loose hem and long sleeves reminiscent of the Ford Dress. After all these reappearances of the iconic look that have graced the runway, the unparalleled fashion designer certainly reminded us that the original never truly left fashion.
