Louise Chéruit

Louise Chéruit
Mme. Chéruit, painting by Paul Helleu, 1898
Born	1866
Died	1955
Nationality	French
Occupation	Fashion Designer
Signature

Madame Louise Chéruit (1866-1955), born Louise Lemaire, often erroneously called Mme Madeleine Chéruit, was among the foremost couturiers of her generation, and one of the first women to control a major French fashion house. Her salon operated in the Place Vendôme in Paris under the name Chéruit (French pronunciation: ​[ ʃeʁi ]) from 1906 to 1935. Chéruit is best remembered today as the subject of a number of portraits by Paul César Helleu, with whom she conducted an affair before opening her couture house and for the appearance of her name in two celebrated works of literature, Marcel Proust's Remembrance of Things Past (1910) and Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies (1930). Her name is also frequently associated with the fashion photography of Edward Steichen whose favorite model, Marion Morehouse, often wore gowns from the house of Chéruit for Vogue magazine in the 1920s. One particular Steichen image has become iconic: Morehouse in a jet-beaded black net Chéruit dress, first published in 1927.

Many basic facts about the life of Madame Chéruit are uncertain, although recent research shows that her forename was not "Madeleine," as so many traditional fashion resources claim. According to the Carnavalet Museum, Mme "Madeleine" Chéruit (Louise Lemaire) was born on 9 June 1866.Vogue magazine described her as "a Louis XVI woman because she has the daintiness, the extravagant tastes, the exquisite charm, and the art of those French ladies who went gaily through the pre-revolution epoch."

Louise, whose mother was a seamstress, received her early professional training in dressmaking in the late 1880s with Raudnitz & Cie, located in the heart of Paris. The salon especially appealed to women who wanted ensembles that exuded an air of youthfulness and simplicity made of the finest fabrics. Mme Chéruit’s talent, alongside that of her sister Marie Huet, was such that they ascended to leading positions within the firm. On 28 August 1895, Louise married Prosper Chéruit who supported her creative talents and contributed to some business aspects of her early career.