Betty Charnuis
Encyclopedia
Betty Clemo 莫蘭詩 was a Hong Kong-based fashion and costume designer active in the 1950s until the end of the 1990s.
Borjigit clan. Her mother, Yekaterina (Catherine) Charnuism was Russian, and apprenticed for Jeanne Lanvin
in Paris. After her father's death, Betty moved to Shanghai
, where her mother operated a couture
house called Atelier Charnuis. She employed primarily Russian refugees and catered to the high society of Shanghai, including the Soong sisters
.
. William died during the war and Clemo eventually moved to Los Angeles under the advice of Elinor Glyn
. With the help of Elsie de Wolfe
, whose husband, Sir Charles Mendl, was a colleague of William Clemo, she was hired as a costume consultant for 20th Century Fox
and worked extensively with Edith Head
, Irene Sharaff
, and Charles LeMaire
. She later moved to New York and worked as the chief fashion designer for Hattie Carnegie
.
Clemo relocated to Hong Kong
at the end of the 1950s to work as an art director and costume designer for Shaw's studio. Under the studio system, she worked at numerous projects and is best remembered for her collaboration with Lin Dai
, where she designed most of her costumes on and off stage. She was awarded Best Art Director at the Asia Pacific Film Festival
in 1961 for the movie Les Belles.
In 1962 she started her own fashion brand, Betty Clemo, and set up a boutique called Betty Clemo's Couture at the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong. Generally regarded one of the first fashion designer in Hong Kong, she was the first to introduce Paris haute couture to Asia by importing licensed line-to-line adaptions of Paris haute couture fashions to Hong Kong. Labels she carried throughout the years included Christian Dior
, Nina Ricci
, Maggy Rouff, Norman Hartnell
, and Hanae Mori
. Apart from local movie stars and socialites from Hong Kong, she also attracted a following of international celebrities such as Hollywood actresses Greta Garbo
, Marlene Dietrich
, Joan Crawford
, Anna May Wong
, Ava Gardner
, Susan Hayward
, Merle Oberon
, and royal figures such as the Duchess of Windsor and Princess Margaret.
She retired in the mid-1990s and moved to London with her grandchildren. She passed away in her sleep in 2005. Her fashion company is currently operated by her family in London, with boutiques in London, New York, Hong Kong, Macau, and numerous duty free shops throughout China.
Assistant Costume Designer
Costume Consultant
Art Director
Early life
Elizabeth 'Betty' Borjin Charnuis Clemo Yen was born in Beijing in 1920. Her father was Chinese, belonging to the MongolianMongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
Borjigit clan. Her mother, Yekaterina (Catherine) Charnuism was Russian, and apprenticed for Jeanne Lanvin
Jeanne Lanvin
Jeanne-Marie Lanvin was a French fashion designer and the founder of the Lanvin fashion house.One of the most influential designers of the 1920s and '30s, Jeanne Lanvin's skillful use of intricate trimmings, virtuoso embroideries and beaded decorations in clear, light, floral colors became a...
in Paris. After her father's death, Betty moved to Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, where her mother operated a couture
Haute couture
Haute couture refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses,...
house called Atelier Charnuis. She employed primarily Russian refugees and catered to the high society of Shanghai, including the Soong sisters
Soong sisters
The Soong Sisters were three Hakka Chinese women who were, along with their husbands, amongst China's most significant political figures of the early 20th century...
.
Career in film industry
Clemo married English diplomat William Clemo in the 1930s and moved to London at the outbreak of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. William died during the war and Clemo eventually moved to Los Angeles under the advice of Elinor Glyn
Elinor Glyn
Elinor Glyn , born Elinor Sutherland, was a British novelist and scriptwriter who pioneered mass-market women's erotic fiction. She popularized the concept It...
. With the help of Elsie de Wolfe
Elsie de Wolfe
]Elsie de Wolfe was an American actress, interior decorator, nominal author of the influential 1913 book The House in Good Taste, and a prominent figure in New York, Paris, and London society...
, whose husband, Sir Charles Mendl, was a colleague of William Clemo, she was hired as a costume consultant for 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
and worked extensively with Edith Head
Edith Head
Edith Head was an American costume designer who won eight Academy Awards, more than any other woman.-Early life and career:...
, Irene Sharaff
Irene Sharaff
Irene Sharaff was an American costume designer for stage and screen. Her work earned her five Academy Awards and a Tony Award.- Background :...
, and Charles LeMaire
Charles LeMaire
Charles LeMaire was an American costume designer. Despite his French sounding name, he was born in Chicago.LeMaire's early career was as a vaudeville performer, but he became a costume designer for such Broadway productions as Ziegfeld Follies and The Five O'Clock Girl. By 1925 he turned to the...
. She later moved to New York and worked as the chief fashion designer for Hattie Carnegie
Hattie Carnegie
Hattie Carnegie was a fashion entrepreneur based in New York City from the 1920s to the 1960s. She was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary as Henrietta Kanengeiser....
.
Clemo relocated to Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
at the end of the 1950s to work as an art director and costume designer for Shaw's studio. Under the studio system, she worked at numerous projects and is best remembered for her collaboration with Lin Dai
Lin Dai
Linda Lin Dai was a Chinese actress of Hong Kong films made in Mandarin during 1950s–60s. She was a star actress in the Shaw Brothers Studio stable....
, where she designed most of her costumes on and off stage. She was awarded Best Art Director at the Asia Pacific Film Festival
Asia Pacific Film Festival
The Asia Pacific Film Festival, first held in 1954, is film festival held annually in an Asian country designated by the Board of Directors of the Federation of Motion Picture Producers in Asia-Pacific.Awards are handed out for:*Best Film*Best Director...
in 1961 for the movie Les Belles.
In 1962 she started her own fashion brand, Betty Clemo, and set up a boutique called Betty Clemo's Couture at the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong. Generally regarded one of the first fashion designer in Hong Kong, she was the first to introduce Paris haute couture to Asia by importing licensed line-to-line adaptions of Paris haute couture fashions to Hong Kong. Labels she carried throughout the years included Christian Dior
Christian Dior
Christian Dior , was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, also called Christian Dior.-Life:...
, Nina Ricci
Nina Ricci (brand)
Nina Ricci is a fashion house founded by Maria "Nina" Ricci and her son Robert in Paris in 1932, and owned by the Spanish beauty and fashion group Puig since 1998. Nina Ricci designed gowns while Robert managed the business and finances. She worked with the fabrics directly on the mannequin to...
, Maggy Rouff, Norman Hartnell
Norman Hartnell
Sir Norman Bishop Hartnell, KCVO was a British fashion designer. Royal Warrant as Dressmaker to HM The Queen 1940, subsequently Royal Warrant as Dressmaker to HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother...
, and Hanae Mori
Hanae Mori
Hanae Mori is a fashion designer in Japan. She is the only Japanese woman to have presented her collections on the runways of Paris and New York, and the first Asian woman to be admitted as an official haute couture design house by the fédération française de la couture in France...
. Apart from local movie stars and socialites from Hong Kong, she also attracted a following of international celebrities such as Hollywood actresses Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
, Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
, Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
, Anna May Wong
Anna May Wong
Anna May Wong was an American actress, the first Chinese American movie star, and the first Asian American to become an international star...
, Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
, Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward was an American actress.After working as a fashion model in New York, Hayward travelled to Hollywood in 1937 when open auditions were held for the leading role in Gone with the Wind . Although she was not selected, she secured a film contract, and played several small supporting...
, Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon was an Indian-born British actress best known for her screen performances in The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Cowboy and the Lady . She began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII . She travelled to the United States to make films for Samuel...
, and royal figures such as the Duchess of Windsor and Princess Margaret.
She retired in the mid-1990s and moved to London with her grandchildren. She passed away in her sleep in 2005. Her fashion company is currently operated by her family in London, with boutiques in London, New York, Hong Kong, Macau, and numerous duty free shops throughout China.
Filmography
- Stage FrightStage frightStage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia which may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, whether actually or potentially . In the context of public speaking, this fear is termed glossophobia, one of the most common...
(1946) - Sudden FearSudden FearSudden Fear is a 1952 RKO Radio Pictures feature film starring Joan Crawford and Jack Palance in a noir-ish tale about a successful woman who marries a murderous man. The screenplay by Lenore J. Coffee and Robert Smith was based upon the novel by Edna Sherry. Sudden Fear was directed by David...
(1952) - Affair in Trinindad (1952)
- Call Me MadamCall Me MadamCall Me Madam is a musical with a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse and music and lyrics by Irving Berlin.A satire on politics and foreign affairs that spoofs America's penchant for lending billions of dollars to needy countries, it centers on Sally Adams, a well-meaning but ill-informed...
(1953) - Love is a Many Splendored ThingLove Is a Many Splendored ThingLove Is a Many Splendored Thing is an American daytime soap opera which aired on CBS from September 18, 1967 to March 23, 1973. The series was created by Irna Phillips, who served as the first head writer. She was replaced by Jane Avery and Ira Avery in 1968, who were followed by Don Ettlinger,...
(1955) - The King and IThe King and IThe King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
(1956) - The World of Suzie WongThe World of Suzie WongThe World of Suzie Wong is a 1957 novel written by Richard Mason. The main characters are Robert Lomax, a young British artist living in Hong Kong, and Suzie Wong, the title character, a Chinese woman who works as a prostitute...
(1960) - Flower Drum SongFlower Drum SongFlower Drum Song was the eighth stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. It was based on the 1957 novel, The Flower Drum Song, by Chinese-American author C. Y. Lee. The piece opened in 1958 on Broadway and was afterwards presented in the West End and on tour...
(1962) - 千嬌百媚 (1961)
- 花團錦簇Love ParadeThe Love Parade was a popular electronic dance music festival and parade that originated in 1989 in West Berlin, Germany. It was held in Germany annually between 1989 and 2003 in Berlin, and then from 2006 to 2010 in the Ruhr region...
(1962)
Assistant Costume Designer
Costume Consultant
Art Director