Fate, fortune and fashion: The curious relationship between Dior and tarot cards

Christian Dior’s trusted fortuneteller, tarot-inspired runways and Jonathan Anderson’s own readings reveal mysticism’s lasting place in the House of Dior.

As strange as this sounds, the fashion house of Dior may have played a part in the mainstream rise of tarot cards. That was the case for me at least, in the prologue of my tarot reading journeys; and like any fun bit of lore, my interest in both the cards and fashion history is a thread to pull, unraveling a tale of wonder, mystery and glamour.

I will never forget the year they released Dior’s Spring/Summer 2017 collection by then Creative Director Maria Grazia Chiuri; this was her hotly anticipated runway debut for the ready-to-wear line. That was actually the first time I saw tarot card art in a new, fashionable light, as they were stitched in dresses and accessories. The kids today will look back and call it “whimsy” with its sheer fabrics, flowy silhouettes and symbolic motifs. There was something magical about it, perhaps even esoteric; however, I would later learn that Chiuri wasn’t the first creative genius to leverage the mystical for Dior.

Indeed, the House of Dior’s magical whimsy goes back to the founder himself, Christian Dior, a man who defined the modern fashion industry we know today, who pulled fashion from the post-World War II gloom.

He was also one of the most deeply superstitious designers documented in fashion history, to the point that mystical beliefs played a huge part in shaping Dior. This legacy of mystical belief and tarot is latent within the fashion house; beginning with Dior, popularized later by Chiuri, and maybe even to inform the house’s current sole designer, Jonathan Anderson.

Christian Dior and his fortunetellers

Many artists and designers past and present have been described as superstitious; but for Christian Dior, mystical belief practically gave him the boldness to pursue his dreams. In his own autobiography, “Dior by Dior”, he begins the first paragraph of the first chapter with this admission: “I must acknowledge my debt to the fortunetellers who have predicted [my good luck.]”

He then goes on to describe his first ever fortunetelling read. He was 14 years old in the year 1919, he attended a bazaar where a gypsy fortuneteller offered to read his palm. She said to the young Dior: “You will suffer poverty. But women are lucky for you, and through them you will achieve success. You will make a great deal of money out of them, and you will have to travel widely.”

Although Dior admits that he didn’t quite understand nor take seriously this prediction then (he and his family had a laugh about it), he looks back at it with a clarity, and a realization that everything said would eventually be true. He and his family did suffer poverty after the death of his mother in 1931; and truly, he created immense success and fortune from women. This is not just because of the nature of his fashion house, but also because of the key women who helped bolster his business.

There is his childhood friend, Suzanne Luling, who took charge of the sales and PR of Dior’s couture house; his own sister, Catherine Dior, a French war hero who inspired his iconic perfume Miss Dior, and who would later help preserve her brother’s fashion legacy after his untimely death in 1957. Last but not least, the mysterious fortuneteller at his side, Madame Delahaye.

*Dior with Madame Delahaye in the 1950s | photo from WWD*

Much to my immense disappointment, very little is known about the mysterious clairvoyant and fortune teller Madame Delahaye, who was said to be one of the most influential women in Christian Dior’s life. We don’t even know her real name. Dior was said to have consulted her frequently. Prior to every show at least, he would consult her and her cards, to the point that Pierre Cardin (who worked for Dior in 1947) said, “Without her, he would do nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing.” He also consulted her frequently on the best dates and times to launch his new collections, and even on the best florists for the job. Indeed, fashion historians have claimed that Dior would not make key decisions without consulting Madame Delahaye.

In the very few accounts that we know of Madame Delahaye, we know that she made several key predictions. According to Dior in his autobiography, she ordered him sternly to accept the financier Marcel Boussac’s offer to start the house of Dior, “You must create the house of Christian Dior, whatever the conditions. Nothing anyone will offer you later will compare to the chance which is open to you now.”

*The Dior bar jacket | Photo by Serge Balkin, Vogue, April 1947*

This was around 1946—France was reeling from the devastating losses of the war, and fashion was the least of Europe’s concerns. But by 1947, the House of Christian Dior would launch the “New Look” on the runway, practically making Dior the post-war fashion savior. We know from Dior’s own account, that he actively consulted with Madame Delahaye, even during the preparations of the fashion show, “As Mme. Delahaye predicted, the last bang of the hammer was actually heard as the first visitor entered.”

Madame Delahaye also “obstinately predicted” that Christian’s sister, Catherine Dior, would return from deportation by the Gestapo. Back then, he had nearly lost all hope, as Catherine was arrested and tortured in 1944 for joining the French Resistance. Catherine will eventually escape prison, and reunite with her brother in Paris.

*Dior with Madame Delahaye in Paris, 1954 | Photo from The Telegraph*

It is with great, sad irony that Madame Delahaye’s last prediction for Christian Dior was a warning; that he should not take that spa trip to Montecatini, Italy in 1957. Unfortunately, he did go and would eventually die of a heart attack during his travels. He was only 52 years-old; and this was allegedly the rare instance he ignored his fortuneteller.

The full extent of Madame Delahaye’s predictions for Dior will never be known, as she has since disappeared from the public after his death. She remains a mysterious, yet widely acknowledged personality in the house of Dior’s history.

Maria Grazia Chiuri and the spiritual, inner-self

I remember the year 2016, when the Dior fashion house announced with much fanfare the arrival of their new Creative Director, Maria Grazia Chiuri, the first ever female Creative Director in the fashion house’s history. These developments also came at an interesting pocket of time wherein — for a brief few months— the world was eagerly anticipating the first female president for the United States of America. Sadly, we all know how feminism had taken a hit on U.S Politics later that year; but for Dior, under the direction of Chiuri, feminism came in a blaze and sparkle down the global runway. Her debut collection was unflinching in its feminist slant, with the graphic statement shirt, “We should all be feminists”, making headlines. But also, within the same collection, we see the first tarot-inspired pieces in her designs.

*Chiuri’s debut collection for Dior in 2016 | Photos from Getty Images*

Several outfits in the runway of that debut contained the imagery of the tarot cards, in a soft, feminine style of art; later, it was revealed that these images were specifically from the Motherpeace Tarot, a Goddess-inspired, feminist interpretation of the cards made by Karen Vogel, and Nicki Noble. Then in Dior’s Haute-Couture 2017-2018 runway, she stuns audiences with the now-iconic tarot card coat, inspired by the classic Visconti-Sforza deck, a set and art piece dating back to Renaissance Italy. But her biggest tarot-inspired fashion collection comes in Spring Haute-Couture 2021, with the unveiling of the Le Chateau du Tarot collection, a whole line inspired by the art of Visconti-Sforza deck, which launched with an artistic short-film by Matteo Garrone.

Chiuri clearly leveraged the Dior house’s magical thinking legacy, as well as the rising popularity of tarot cards during her tenure. In past interviews, she has claimed that she and Christian Dior share a fascination in tarot and astrology. But Chiuri herself is more concerned about tarot as a self-exploration tool, as opposed to fortune-telling.

“I have never been to a clairvoyant myself.”, she said in a past interview in 2018. “I believe in the possibility that each of us has to define our own future through our choices and our daily work. I’m not interested in knowing the future through the cards. What fascinates me about tarot is the role it can play in exploring one’s inner self, and enabling us to learn more about the remotest parts of ourselves.” To Chiuri, this self-exploration practice is what makes her readings “spiritual”, as it allows her to get to know her inner-life.

Perhaps even after Christian Dior’s death, the fortuneteller’s prophecy still holds true about women being very lucky for Dior. Because under Chiuri’s direction, the house of Dior actually quadrupled their revenue, bringing the brand’s sales from €2.2 billion in 2017 to €9.5 billion in 2023. By 2025, it was announced that Chiuri is stepping down from her Creative Director position for women’s fashion, and departing Dior for her next chapter. Jonathan William Anderson, the founder of JW Anderson, replaces her as the new Creative Director for Dior’s women fashion line.

Jonathan Anderson and the global tarot community

In June 2025, Jonathan Anderson was officially announced as the successor of Chiuri. The Northern Irish designer had joined Dior earlier that year as the head of menswear; and now this stunning announcement, he sits on the gargantuan achievement of the being the sole creative director of Dior. Not since Christian Dior himself managed the house has there been a sole creative director in the business. Not long after this announcement, the global tarot and astrology community went abuzz when a photo of Anderson getting a tarot reading came to light.

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We are very fortunate to live in an era of digital footprints and social media, lest we have another Madame Delahaye disappear into history. From the tarot reader’s account himself, we know Anderon gets readings from Trevor Ballin, a tarot reader to some Hollywood personalities like Dan Levy, Emily Hampshire, and Sarah Paulson. Anderson himself is seen in at least 3 posts about tarot readings, and it is implied in Ballin’s posts that matters of the future are being discussed. It’s interesting to note that Anderson appears to be getting readings from Ballin dating back to 2023, well before he joined the Dior house.

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Where Anderson stands on tarot and perhaps the role of superstition, or magical thinking in Dior, has yet to be revealed. But it is interesting to note that even without any actual tarot collections past or present, he has been called the “esoteric designer” of Dior, more so than his predecessor Chiuri it seems. This could be because Chiuri in the past has repeatedly stated that she doesn’t consult clairvoyants herself, and she was not much of a believer of tarot as a fortune-telling tool.

But Anderson appears to be more like Christian Dior himself, a regular seeker of clairvoyants and readers; and, if Ballin’s word is to be believed, it appears that an exciting future is ahead for him. Ironically, without saying much or even releasing any designs yet, it is Anderson’s photos with tarot cards that revived interest in Dior’s superstitious past; the online tarot community in particular have fully embraced Anderson as an example of the cards’ relationship to fashion, art, fame and success.

When we take this tarot journey in the House of Dior, I can’t help but think about the common tension being raised on the matter of fortune telling: Is success dictated by a force of Fate and luck, as Christian Dior himself believed, or do we take the stance of Maria Grazia Chiuri, who believes more in our personal agency, or free will, to dictate Fate? As a tarot reader myself, this is one of the most common anxieties I encounter among those seeking to have their cards read; and understandably, when we hear about the incredible success, and sudden tragedies of Dior, it’s easy to fall into fear that we are at the mercy of unseen Fate.

To answer this question, and to put some minds at ease, the majority of tarot readers and astrologers do believe that no fate is set in stone, even if the stars or cards predict it; how a person acts, and the decisions we make, have every capacity of override or power through our fortunes. In other words, a clairvoyant can predict your future success, but if you don’t start anything today, there is nothing for the future to stand on.

Moreover, I do believe in the immortal saying, “Fortune favors the bold”, and the aforementioned Dior designers are a testament to that. Other than an interest in tarot cards, Christian Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Jonathan Anderson have another thing in common: They took on the bold challenges of their time. Christian Dior took on the task to make the “New Look”, a vision that pulled the fashion industry out of the pessimism of the war; Maria Grazia Chiuri takes on the challenge to be the first female Creative Director in Dior, at a time when the vast majority of fashion leadership is still male-dominated; and Jonathan Anderson boldly accepts the role of a sole designer in the fashion house, the likes of which is incredibly unheard of in today’s luxury fashion houses.

Last but not least, looking at the autobiographical words of Christian Dior again, I’d like to think fate and fortune also favor a humble soul. By the time he wrote his autobiography, Dior himself already had industry-defining success, outshining his contemporaries, like Coco Chanel. Yet, he described himself still as a “Reluctant Couturier” in his beginnings. Indeed, the first chapter itself is a refreshing look at a man filled with self-doubt, and even fear as he came face-to-face with a life-changing decision.

“However,” he said, “Fate did not let me escape so easily” and “Fate prepared the scene a little.” It is an incredible reminder that, even with the cards and the stars on your side, a leap of faith still demands courage to seize your fortunes; no clairvoyant or reader can ever mitigate that lesson for you.nd who would later help preserve her brother’s fashion legacy after his untimely death in 1957. Last but not least, the mysterious fortune teller at his side, Madame Delahaye.