The gentle genius, Christian Dior, had steely ambitions of empire. “There is nothing I would like better,” he said in 1955, “than to make every woman look and feel like a duchess.” This exhibition examines Dior’s romantic reign, a vision of beauty that has guided the House of Dior’s six succeeding couturiers. —L.J.

Similar events around the world: “Dior: From Paris to the World,” Dallas Museum of Art (May 19–September 1, 2019).