Doris Brynner, Longtime Head of Dior Home Furnishings, Dies at 93

Dorys Brynner, Dior‘s longtime head of home furnishings and friend of many Hollywood legends, has died. She was 93.

Brynner died Saturday in Lausanne, Switzerland, following a short illness, her daughter Victoria confirmed to Women’s Wear Daily.

Brynner was a celebrated friend of many Hollywood and fashion icons, including Karl Lagerfeld, Pierre Bergé, Pierre Cardin, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Audrey Hepburn, Oscar de la Renta, Lee Radziwill and Alain Delon.

Brynner began work on Dior’s giftware in 1997 when Sidney Toledano, then the brand’s head, hired her on the recommendation of Peter Marino.

“In a few weeks, she changed the whole thing,” Toledano told WWD. Her designs, including canework patterned glasses and plates with lily of the valley blooms, have since become iconic to the brand.

Toledano also told the outlet that Brynner lived on Avenue Montaigne in Paris during her time at the company, and visited the flagship store so frequently she sometimes even took off her shoes.

“She was extraordinary, she had the most amazing and perfect taste,” a Delphine Arnault, chairman and chief executive officer of Christian Dior Couture, also told WWD. “It’s a very big loss for our house and our family. She was a great friend of our family, and she was so special and unique.”

Doris Brynner was born in the former Yugoslavia in 1931. She grew up in Chile, and then moved to France in the 1950s, where she worked at Pierre Cardin and then Valentino before Dior.

She is survived by her daughter Victoria Brynner, and grandchildren Isabella Brynner-Sullivan and Eugene Joseph Sullivan IV.