Jeanne Lanvin
Encyclopedia
Jeanne-Marie Lanvin was a French fashion designer and the founder of the Lanvin
Lanvin (clothing)
Lanvin is a high fashion house founded by Jeanne Lanvin.-History:Lanvin made such beautiful clothes for her daughter that they began to attract the attention of a number of wealthy people who requested copies for their own children...

 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 Lanvin trademark.
When Lanvin died in 1946, ownership of the firm was naturally ceded to the designer's daughter, Marguerite di Pietro.

Early life

The eldest of 11 children, she became an apprentice milliner at Madame Félix in Paris at the age of 16 and trained at dressmaker Talbot before becoming a milliner on the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré
Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré
The rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré is a street in Paris, France. Although relatively narrow and nondescript , it is cited as being one of the most fashionable streets in the world, thanks to the presence of virtually every major global fashion house...

 in 1889.

Personal life

In 1895, Lanvin married her first husband, Count Emilio di Pietro, an Italian nobleman and two years later gave birth to a daughter, Marguerite (also known as Marie-Blanche) (1897–1958). The couple's only child, Marguerite di Pietro became an opera singer, married the Count Jean de Polignac (1888–1943), and was, on the death of her mother, the director of the Lanvin fashion house. Lanvin and di Pietro divorced in 1903. Lanvin's second husband, whom she married in 1907, was Xavier Melet, a journalist at the newspaper Les Temps and later the French consul in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, England.

Career

In 1909, Lanvin joined the Syndicat de la Couture, which marked her formal status as a couturière
Couturier
A couturier is an establishment or person involved in the clothing fashion industry who makes original garments to order for private clients. A couturier may make what is known as haute couture. Such a person usually hires patternmakers and machinists for garment production, and is either employed...

. Lanvin made such beautiful clothes for her daughter that they began to attract the attention of a number of wealthy people who requested copies for their own children. Soon, Lanvin was making dresses for their mothers, and some of the most famous names in Europe were included in the clientele of her new boutique
Boutique
A boutique is a small shopping outlet, especially one that specializes in elite and fashionable items such as clothing and jewelry. The word is French for "shop", via Latin from Greek ἀποθήκη , "storehouse"....

 on the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Paris. She became known for her mother-and-daughter outfits and exquisite robes de style, as well as her modern and global approach to the fashion industry.

From 1923, the Lanvin empire included a dye factory in Nanterre
Nanterre
Nanterre is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located west of the center of Paris.Nanterre is the capital of the Hauts-de-Seine department as well as the seat of the Arrondissement of Nanterre....

. In the 1920s, Lanvin opened shops devoted to home décor, menswear
Fashion
Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...

, furs and lingerie.

However, her most significant expansion was the creation of Lanvin Parfums SA in 1924 and the introduction of her signature, fragrance
Perfume
Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and/or aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces "a pleasant scent"...

 Arpège
Arpège
Arpège is a 1927 perfume by Lanvin. Along with Chanel's Chanel No. 5 and Patou's Joy, it is one of the three best known perfumes in the world.-Name:...

, in 1927, inspired by the sound of her daughter Marguerite's practicing her scales on the piano. ("Arpège" is French for arpeggio
Arpeggio
An arpeggio is a musical technique where notes in a chord are played or sung in sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out simultaneously...

.)

In addition, Lanvin commissioned Rateau to decorate her apartment at 16 rue Barbet-de-Jouy, Paris, and two country houses. (The living room, boudoir and bathroom of the apartment was reassembled in 1985 in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.) For this domicile, Rateau designed some remarkable 1920–22 furniture in bronze.

During 1921–22, Rateau was manager of Lanvin-Sport and he also designed the Lanvin spherical La Boule perfume flacon for Arpège (originally produced by the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres). To this day, Arpège perfume containers are imprinted with Paul Iribe
Paul Iribe
Paul Iribe was a French designer, journalist, artist, and fashion illustrator.-Early Life and Career:Paul Iribarnegaray was born in Angoulême, France in 1883, of Basque parentage....

's gold image (rendered in 1907) of Lanvin and her daughter Marguerite. Rateau also designed Lanvin’s fashion house and managed Lanvin-Décoration (an interior-design department, established 1920) in the main store on the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.

Awards

  • Chevalier de l'Order de la Légion d'Honneur
    Légion d'honneur
    The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...

    , to Jeanne Lanvin, 1926
  • Officier de l'Order de la Légion d'Honneur, to Jeanne Lanvin, 1938


External links

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