Mattli
| Mattli | |
|---|---|
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|
| Born |
Giuseppe Gustavo Mattli 1907 Locarno, Switzerland |
| Died | 9 February 1982 Curridge, Berkshire |
| Other names | Jo Mattli |
| Occupation | Fashion designer |
| Organization | Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers |
Mattli (1907–1982), also sometimes Jo Mattli, was a Swiss-born and London-based fashion designer known for his couture designs and, later, his ready-to-wear clothing and couture patterns.
A member of the Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers (IncSoc) – making him a key player in shaping London's post-war couture industry – he was characterised by British Vogue in March 1953 as a go-to designer women could trust: "Mattli's clothes have charming wearable qualities...One feels he cares more about dressing women than putting over fashion themes, good though his are."
Giuseppe Gustavo Mattli was born in Locarno, Switzerland and grew up in the Italian-speaking southern city of Lugano as one of a family of 14 children (12 of them were girls). Mattli's career began as an apprentice to an oil company in Switzerland, but he moved to England in 1926 to learn English and acquire tailoring skills. He continued his training in Paris, working at the fashion house of Premet, returning to London to open his own couture house in 1934. Within four years he was showing in Paris, but the outbreak of war meant a return to London.
Mattli's first wife Olga, whom he married sometime before 1934, was one of his models and also designed hats for some of his gowns. His French-born second wife Claude, whom he married in 1947, had worked as a model for Ardanse, Desses and Jean Patou before moving to London and working for the Free French. An article in the Sydney Morning Herald on the women behind London's top designers, described her as 'director-vendeuse' (head of sales) and occasional model for evening gowns – also noting that the "beautiful" Claude was a keen housewife but Jo Mattli was the chef in their flat in Kensington.
Mattli was among the earliest members of IncSoc and, in common with other major London couturiers, was involved in promoting British fashion designed around utility principles during and immediately after the war. Once the strictures of rationing were relaxed, IncSoc set out to promote its role, and that of British couture as a rival to Paris. One of Mattli's outfits – an elegant silk cocktail gown – was included in the fashion show sequence in the popular 1949 comedy Maytime in Mayfair. He shared premises in Knightsbridge with fellow IncSoc member Charles Creed after the war.
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Wikipedia