By Arissa Ha – published 7 Oct 2025
In 1947, Christian Dior staged a fashion revolution. His first collection, with its nipped-in waists and sweeping skirts, announced the New Look to a post-war world longing for renewal and hope. Alongside the clothes came a perfume, conceived as an invisible gown that would outlast even the most exquisite fabric. He called it Miss Dior, after his sister Catherine, whose strength during the French Resistance embodied resilience in its purest form.
Catherine survived the brutality of deportation and returned to a life filled with flowers. She became a dealer of blooms in Paris, her daily visits to Avenue Montaigne a reminder of beauty’s ability to endure. One afternoon, as she arrived at her brother’s atelier, a friend called out, “Look, here is Miss Dior.” From that chance remark, a name was born. The fragrance became a statement that even after devastation, beauty could flourish again.
That spirit has never faded. Today, the fragrance story continues with Miss Dior Essence, which strips back to its essentials while retaining the joy and intensity of the original Miss Dior fragrance.
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Francis Kurkdjian’s Vision of the New Fragrance
Photo: Courtesy of Dior Beauty
Francis Kurkdjian, Dior’s Perfume Creation Director, imagined Miss Dior Essence as a flash of colour, as vibrant and unapologetic as pop art. “Fruity, luscious, juicy… and sensual,” he says, conjuring the spirit of a young woman draped in daring hues.
The scent opens with a generous rush of blackberry, balanced by fresh elderflower. At its heart, jasmine blooms, linking back to the 1947 formula yet unfurling with a new exuberance that feels lush, radiant and untamed. Beneath the brightness, oak wood lends warmth and depth, its richness grounding the fruits and florals in sensuality.
As with couture, the details matter. Miss Dior Essence arrives in a bottle that recalls the precision of a tailored suit. Its frosted glass sides are etched with the house’s houndstooth motif, the bow is tied in textured black grosgrain, and for the first time, the cap gleams in finely crafted glass.
On the skin, Miss Dior Essence reveals itself with lightness and ease. It is indulgent but airy, luminous with a steadiness that lingers, and its femininity speaks with quiet assurance rather than fragility.
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Natalie Portman and the Spirit of Miss Dior
Photo: Courtesy of Dior Beauty
For Natalie Portman, Miss Dior has been a part of her life for 15 years. At first, she felt the weight of embodying such an iconic fragrance, but over time it became familiar, even personal. “The Miss Dior character has grown as I have grown,” she says. “Working with Dior for so long, the team has really become like a family.”
She calls Miss Dior Essence “floral, feminine, bold”. For her, the fragrance is about the memories it awakens. “It has this childlike feeling of spring, romance, flowers, and that memory of what it is like to be young, free, wild and in love.”
Photo: Courtesy of Dior Beauty
The story of Miss Dior always brings her back to Catherine Dior. “The main inspiration comes from Catherine Dior, who was the original Miss Dior for her brother Christian,” she explains. “The energy of her spirit is the inspiration for what the character is: a courageous, strong, bold, free, liberated woman who stands up for justice.”
Several years into her collaboration with Dior, Portman discovered Catherine’s history in greater detail. “Catherine was an incredibly courageous woman,” she says. “She was very active in the Resistance to the Nazis during the war, was sent to a concentration camp, survived and came back. Her story also gives a lot of meaning to the whole enterprise of what Christian Dior was doing: he was trying to revive beauty after a very ugly time, and to bring it back into people’s lives after they had lived through so much horror. I think that’s so necessary, and that there can be so much pleasure and meaning in beauty and in the power of humans to create beautiful things.”
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The Spirit of Miss Dior Essence
Photo: Courtesy of Dior Beauty
At its heart, Miss Dior Essence carries with it courage, beauty, and a spirit that honours strength, love and freedom without hesitation. Concentrated and radiant, Miss Dior Essence lingers as a declaration of strength and love, honouring Catherine Dior’s bravery, Francis Kurkdjian’s imagination, and Natalie Portman’s grace.
