This is not the first time that an Asian appearance has coincided with a peak in popularity. Wide cheekbones and narrow eyes with cat eyeliner drove both men and women insane in the 1950s. Alla Ilchun, who was half-Russian and half-Kazakh, set the standard for Asian beauty. She was Christian Dior’s muse and happy talisman, but she was also fortunate that the famous couturier chose her to be his fashion model.
Alla Ilchun worked as a kitchen maid and could have ended up as a waitress or cook in a French restaurant. By chance, she ended up at Christian Dior’s casting and became his leading model. Though her origins were kept hidden during her lifetime and even afterward, they were only recently revealed. People at the time assumed that this Asian beauty was originally from China, and she was even referred to as a Chinese or Manchurian fashion model in Christian Dior’s memoirs.
Ilchun and her mother had indeed arrived in France from the Chinese city of Harbin. They fled following the October Revolution. They had Chinese citizenship, but Alla’s mother was Russian and came from a wealthy family that had lost everything. Her father was the son of a Bai from Kazakhstan. Alla was half-Russian and half-Kazakh, which means she was half-Russian and half-Kazakh. Nobody knew about this in Europe, and she didn’t even discover her origins until two years before her death.
The two immigrants were not welcomed with open arms in France’s capital, and it was difficult for them to settle down. Alla’s mother was forced to return to the music she had studied in Russia and sing in a cabaret, while Alla worked as a kitchen maid in a restaurant. Ilchun was a member of the French partisan resistance during WWII, working as a nurse and signalwoman.
Alla Ilchun stumbled upon the House of Dior by chance. This is how she described the calamitous event:
“One of my French friends decided to go to Dior to try herself as an understudy, and she took me along. As I waited for her in the lobby, I noticed that the curtains of the fitting rooms were parted now and then and curious glances examined me from head to toe. Eventually I got tired of these glances and of the waiting, and I decided to go upstairs to find my friend. At that very moment, a lady informed me that Christian Dior was extremely eager to see me. Reluctantly, I agreed to follow her. They took me to a fitting room, pulled off my dress, did my hair in the shape of a big bun, painted my lips with red lipstick, put on a new dress, gave me terribly uncomfortable stiletto shoes, and led me downstairs where a team of painters in white coats was working. “Well,” I thought, “they dressed me up like a monkey, and now brought me into the room with painters.” After a few moments they took me away, and I never noticed Dior there. Then the same lady told me, “Mademoiselle, you have been engaged!” “But I have already passed the competition in Le Lido,” I said. “And I didn’t even see Dior.” The lady laughed, “Dior was among the painters, but with a pointer in his hand!”
Christian Dior’s book Dior by Dior.
She had a crush on Christian Dior at first sight. The designer was captivated by the combination of an incredibly thin waist (18.5 inches), a womanly figure, and an exotic Asian face. He was the first to hire an Asian woman. Hubert de Givenchy and Cristobal Balenciaga quickly followed. For the first time in haute couture history, a woman with a non-Western appearance was the focal point. Even Dior admitted that inviting an Asian model to model European clothing was risky. This risk, however, resulted in his unprecedented success.
Alla was Christian Dior’s muse and talisman. She was the personification of the new-look style. She was graceful, unusually feminine, and had a thin waist — everything a fashion designer and a society that was tired of the rudeness and simplicity of a woman’s dress during the war years needed. After Alla showed off a dress, it quickly became popular and was sold out. Customers who chose Alla’s dresses included British Princess Margaret and actress Elizabeth Taylor.
Alla Ilchun was not only this famous fashion designer’s muse but also a beauty role model. Many fashion models and fashionistas attempted to imitate her in the 1950s. They drew bright black wings on their eyes and even underwent surgery to resemble her. The press praised her unique runway moves, her unique turn, and her mysterious and impenetrable gaze, which hypnotized the audience.
Alla Ilchun spent 20 years at the Dior fashion house. It was led at the time by three fashion designers: Christian Dior, his successor Yves Saint Laurent, and then Marc Bohan. She was married twice: once to Mike de Dulmen, a Dior fashion house photographer, and once to Igor Mukhin, a Russian photographer.
Alla Ilchun’s life story would have died with her in 1989 if it hadn’t been for a strange coincidence. Berlin Irishev, a Kazakh economist and diplomat, happened to see a painting of Alla by Leon Zeytlin in Paris by chance. He became interested in the story of this woman after reading bits and pieces about her previously. Berlin Irishev published The Dior Muse as a result of his hard work, research, and collaboration with French archives. Alla Ilchun’s Story in 2019. The film Alla, the Oriental Pearl of Dior was released in early 2020.
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Source: Manila Papers
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