MISS DIOR:
the whirlwind
of life

MARIE AUDRAN: Miss Dior, the House’s iconic fragrance, embodies the essential link that weaves perfume and couture, and then ready-to-wear, together in a namesake line brimming with a sparkling ardour. Was it that common “Dior” thread that guided you?

FRANCIS KURKDJIAN: Absolutely. Miss Dior is, as its name suggests, the emblem of eternal youth that ties perfume to fashion, in three key dates: 1947 – its birth, just post-war, accompanied the vibrant new energy; 1967 – Marc Bohan’s introduction of the first Dior ready-to-wear line… christened Miss Dior, a reflection of spontaneous femininity; and 2024, with my contemporary reinterpretation of the original fragrance. It is “forever the House’s youthful perfume”, noted Christian Dior’s sister Catherine, who inspired it¹.

MA: In fact, you wanted to (re)explore its founding myth…

FK: Yes, there was a great deal of research done alongside the Patrimoine department to retrace that precious narrative: from the chypre note of the first Miss Dior (a woody floral), I kept the olfactory architecture, a bit as if we were keeping the structured silhouette of the Bar suit, and I reorchestrated it as a woody, fruity floral. The gourmand side comes from wild strawberry, a sparkling facet of star jasmine grandiflorum, a luminescent bouquet that reflects how scents blossom at night. It’s an alignment of planets (and stars) with the constellation of Monsieur Dior’s early, Provençal inspirations.