Christian Dior named his iconic perfume after his sister, Catherine, a French resistance fighter whose life and experiences inspired the scent's creation.
Key facts
- •Catherine Dior was a recipient of multiple medals of honor from European governments for her work in the French resistance.
- •The Miss Dior perfume was developed using Provençal jasmine, rose, and lily of the valley.
- •Christian Dior’s first perfume was originally given the working name Corolle, meaning flower petals in French.
- •Catherine Dior was imprisoned at the Ravensbrück concentration camp during World War II.
- •The perfume's current face, Natalie Portman, has described the scent as evoking a feeling of being ready to fall in love in a park.
Christian Dior named his signature perfume, Miss Dior, after his sister, Catherine Dior, who was 12 years his junior. A decorated resistance fighter during World War II, Catherine served as a key inspiration for the designer, who created the fragrance as a tribute to her and the post-war generation. The scent, which has been produced for nearly 80 years, was originally intended to evoke the feeling of love.
Wartime Resistance and Code Name Caro
In 1941, Catherine Dior joined the F2 resistance network, which maintained ties to British and Polish intelligence. Recruited by her partner, Hervé des Charbonneries, she operated under the code name “Caro” and gathered intelligence essential for the Allied invasion of France. Her wartime service eventually led to her imprisonment in the Ravensbrück concentration camp.
The Creation of a Signature Scent
Christian Dior tasked perfumer Paul Vaucher with creating a scent that smelled like love. The fragrance, initially titled Corolle, was renamed Miss Dior after a friend exclaimed the name when Catherine entered a room. The perfume features Provençal jasmine and rose, reflecting the siblings' shared passion for flowers cultivated by their mother, Madeleine, in Normandy. Christian also incorporated lily of the valley, a flower he frequently sewed into the hemlines of his couture wedding gowns.
Life After the War
Following the war, the siblings reunited in Paris, a period Christian described in his memoir as the end of an unhappy chapter. After Christian’s death, Catherine moved to the family estate, Les Naÿssès, near Grasse. There, she continued to cultivate the roses used in the distillation of the perfume. According to her partner's grandson, Laurent des Charbonneries, Catherine wore the fragrance daily until the end of her life.
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This article was independently rewritten by ManyPress editorial AI from reporting originally published by Elle.
