Dior hands over 140 garments, 2 originals and a team of technicians to Melbourne

The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) has landed a major exclusive in line with the 70th anniversary of Dior's debut spring/summer 1947 collection.

The Gallery will present the never-before-seen exhibition The House of Dior: Seventy Years of Haute Couture until November 7.

Exclusive to Melbourne, the exhibition is a collaboration between the NGV and the House of Dior, Paris.

It features a display of over 140 garments from 1947 to 2017, as well as two specially commissioned Dior haute couture works.

The couture acquisition includes Essence d’Herbier from the spring/summer 2017 collection, designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri.

It also includes Look 10, Bar coat from the autumn/winter 2012/13 collection, designed by Raf Simons.

To celebrate the opening, the NGV will welcome artisans from the Christian Dior Couture atelier in Paris.

The artisans will be working on couture garments in the exhibition space during the first and last weeks of the exhibition.

In addition to highlights from Dior's archives, the exhibition will also explore the brand's affinity with Australia.

This includes the historic spring 1948 fashion parade at David Jones Sydney, which featured 50 original creations by Christian Dior.

This was the first representative Dior collection to be shown outside of Paris.

The exhibition launched on Saturday, with a star studded lineup including Nicole Kidman, Rachel Griffiths and Elizabeth Olsen.