Charles Frederick Worth
| Charles Frederick Worth | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
13 October 1825 Bourne, Lincolnshire, England |
| Died | 10 March 1895 (aged 69) Paris, France |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | Fashion designer |
| Known for | Creating haute couture |
| Spouse(s) | Marie Augustine Vernet (1825 – 1898) |
| Children | Gaston Lucien, Jean Philippe |
| Parent(s) | William Worth and Ann Worth, neé Quincey |
| Labels | House of Worth |
Charles Frederick Worth (13 October 1825 – 10 March 1895) was an English fashion designer who founded the House of Worth, one of the foremost fashion houses of the 19th and early 20th centuries. He is considered by many fashion historians to be the father of haute couture. Worth is also credited with revolutionising the business of fashion.
Established in Paris in 1858, his fashion salon soon attracted European royalty, and where they led monied society followed. An innovative designer, he adapted 19th-century dress to make it more suited to everyday life, with some changes said to be at the request of his most prestigious client Empress Eugénie. He was the first to use live models in order to promote his garments to clients, and to sew branded labels into his clothing; almost all clients visited his salon for a consultation and fitting – thereby turning the House of Worth into a society meeting point. By the end of his career, his fashion house employed 1,200 people and its impact on fashion taste was far-reaching. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has said that his "aggressive self-promotion" earned him the title of the first couturier. Certainly, by the 1870s, his name was not just known in court circles, but appeared in women's magazines that were read by wide society.
Worth raised the status of dressmaking so that the designer-maker also became arbiter of what women should be wearing. Writing on the history of fashion and, in particular, dandyism, in 2002, George Walden said: "Charles Frederick Worth dictated fashion in France a century and a half before Galliano".
Charles Frederick Worth was born on 13 October 1825 in the Lincolnshire market town of Bourne to William and Ann Worth. Some sources say he was their fifth and final child, and the only child other than his brother, William Worth III, to survive to maturity. Others say he was the family's third child. Charles’ father was a solicitor – described as "dissolute" – and left his family in 1836 after ruining its finances, leaving his mother impoverished and without access to financial support.
At the age of 11, Charles was sent to work in a printer's shop. After a year, he moved to London to become an apprentice at the department store of Swan & Edgar in Piccadilly. Seven years later, Lewis & Allenby, another leading British textiles store, employed Worth.
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