Vionnet
| Madeleine Vionnet | |
|---|---|
Madeleine Vionnet at work, early 1920s.
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| Born |
22 June 1876 Chilleurs-aux-Bois |
| Died | 2 March 1975 (aged 98) Paris |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Fashion designer |
| Labels | Madeleine Vionnet |
Madeleine Vionnet (pronounced: [ma.də.lɛn vjɔ.ne]; June 22, 1876 – March 2, 1975) was a French fashion designer. Born in Loiret, France, Vionnet trained in London before returning to France to establish her first fashion house in Paris in 1912. Although it was forced to close in 1914 at the outbreak of the First World War, it re-opened after the war and Vionnet became one of the leading designers in Paris between the Wars (1919-1939). Vionnet was forced to close her house in 1939 and retired in 1940.
Called the "Queen of the bias cut" and "the architect among dressmakers", Vionnet is best known today for her elegant Grecian-style dresses and for popularising the bias cut within the fashion world and is credited with inspiring a number of recent designers.
Born on 22 June 1876 into a poor family in Chilleurs-aux-Bois, Loiret, Vionnet moved with her father to Aubervilliers at the age of five. Having already left school, Vionnet began her apprenticeship at age twelve as a seamstress alongside members of the garde champêtre. After a brief marriage at age 18 – and the loss of her young child – she left her husband and went to London to work as a hospital seamstress. While in London, Vionnet worked as a fitter for Kate Reily.
Vionnet eventually returned to Paris, working for six years in the fashion house Callot Soeurs as a toile maker. After a disagreement with a manager of the house, Vionnet threatened to leave her post. She was convinced to stay by the eldest of the Callot sisters, Marie Callot Gerber, after being offered a promotion that would mean improvising draped designs on a live model with Gerber herself. Vionnet later praised Marie Callot Gerber as "a great lady" and later remarked that "without the example of the Callot Soeurs, I would have continued to make Fords. It is because of them that I have been able to make Rolls Royces". Her desire for simplicity was ultimately at odds with the characteristic lacy frills of the fashion house.
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