It is a perfume which has become a global phenomenon, selling millions of bottles every year.
When Miss Dior was first released in 1947, its creator Christian Dior had founded his eponymous fashion house just a year earlier.
But although the Frenchman's creation went on to become one of the world's biggest brands, the sister who inspired his work has remained largely anonymous.
Now, new book Miss Dior: A Story of Courage and Couture, by author Justine Picardie, reveals Catherine Dior's remarkable life.
Picardie tells how, after the fall of France to Nazi Germany in 1940 following the outbreak of the Second World War, Catherine became a brave member of the French Resistance.
Then, as her brother continued working in Paris for couturier Lucien Lelong, who provided for the wives of French Nazi collaborators and occupying German officials, Catherine was arrested in 1944 after a fellow resistance member betrayed her and 25 other fighters.
After being brutally tortured, she was sent first to Ravensbrück concentration camp and then to three further satellite camps, where she survived months of hard labour.
Catherine was then among those who were forced by their Nazi captors – now fleeing Allied and Soviet troops as defeat in the war loomed - to embark on a 'death march'.
Incredibly, she survived by sneaking away from the group of emaciated prisoners and their guards when they reached the city of Dresden, which had been largely destroyed by Allied bombs just weeks earlier.
In May 1945, Catherine returned to France and was met by her brother at the railway station. He at first did not recognise her because of the toll that imprisonment and the death march had taken on her body.
Apparently inspired by his sister's courage, Christian decided to set up a couture house of his own and, when he showed his debut New Look collection, it was Miss Dior – the perfume he named after his beloved sister – which was sprayed throughout his elegant Paris premises.
When Miss Dior was first released in 1947, its creator Christian Dior had founded his eponymous fashion house just a year earlier. But although the Frenchman's creation went on to become one of the world's biggest brands, the sister who inspired his work has remained largely anonymous. Now, new book Miss Dior: A Story of Courage and Couture, by author Justine Picardie, reveals Catherine Dior's remarkable life. Pictured: Catherine (left) before the outbreak of World War Two; a young Christian in the garden of his family's home in Normandy
Christian named Miss Dior after Catherine and sprayed the now-famous floral scent in his new fashion house in 1947. Above: An old advert for the perfume
Born in 1917, Catherine was 12 years younger than her brother. But, despite the age gap, the pair were the closest of five siblings.
The children grew up in a prosperous home in Normandy, northern France, but were forced into penury when their businessman father lost his fortune in the Wall Street Crash and their mother died of septicaemia in 1931.
Christian, who was then aged 26, was working as a freelance fashion designer in Paris. He took his 14-year-old sister to live with him and she worked in a fashion house selling hats, gloves and accessories.
Picardie tells in her book how Catherine appears to have been a model for her brother's early designs, with youthful photographs showing her wearing a chic black dress and decorative necklace.
After Hitler's invasion of France, Christian and Catherine initially left Paris for their father's farmhouse in Provence, in the south-east of the country.
Before long, Christian had moved back to Paris to work for Lelong, while Catherine remained where she was.
Then, on a trip to Cannes, she met French Resistance member Herve des Charbonneries and the pair fell in love, even though he was married.
Along with his mother and his wife, Herve was a member of the 'F2' intelligence network, whose members had close links with Polish and British intelligence services.
Born in 1917, Catherine was 12 years younger than her brother. But, despite the age gap, the pair were the closest of five siblings. The children grew up in a prosperous home in Normandy, northern France, but were forced into penury when their businessman father lost his fortune in the Wall Street Crash and their mother died of septicaemia in 1931. Above: Christian (far left) and Catherine (sitting down) with siblings Bernard (top right), Jacqueline and Raymond and their parents
After Hitler's invasion of France, Christian and Catherine initially left Paris for their father's farmhouse in Provence, in the south-east of the country. Before long, Christian had moved back to
