Madeleine Vionnet

Lore & Background

Born on 22 June 1876 into a poor family in Chilleurs-aux-Bois, Loiret, Vionnet's parents separated when she was very young and she moved with her father to Aubervilliers at age five. She began her apprenticeship at age twelve as a seamstress. 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, later working as a fitter for Kate Reily. Returning to Paris, she worked for six years at Callot Soeurs as a toile maker. After a disagreement, she was convinced to stay by Marie Callot Gerber, who offered a promotion that involved improvising draped designs on a live model. Vionnet later praised Gerber as 'a great lady' and 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.' She designed for Jacques Doucet between 1907 and 1911, where her use of barefoot models and loose robes clashed with the house style. In 1912 she founded her own fashion house, which closed in 1914 due to the First World War. Re-establishing the house in 1923, she opened new premises on Avenue Montaigne, known as the 'Temple of Fashion.' In 1925, her house expanded with premises on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Vionnet's bias cut clothes dominated haute couture in the 1930s, worn by actresses such as Marlene Dietrich, Katharine Hepburn, Joan Crawford, and Greta Garbo. Her loyal clients included European aristocrats and wealthy North Americans. She fought for copyright laws in fashion and instituted labor practices including paid holidays, maternity leave, day-care, a dining hall, and a resident doctor and dentist. The onset of World War II forced her to close her fashion house in 1939, and she retired in 1940. She created some 12,000 garments over her career. An intensely private individual, she expressed dislike for the world of fashion, stating: 'Insofar as one can talk of a Vionnet school, it comes mostly from my having been an enemy of fashion.'

Reader's Guide

Madeleine Vionnet is considered one of the most influential fashion designers of the 20th century. Alongside Coco Chanel, she is credited with a move away from stiff, formalised clothing to sleeker, softer clothes. Eschewing corsets, padding, and stiffening, she became known for clothes that accentuated the natural female form. Influenced by the modern dances of Isadora Duncan and ancient Greek art, her designs showed off a woman's natural shape. Her use of the bias cut—cutting cloth diagonal to the grain—enabled fabric to cling to the body while stretching and moving with the wearer. While she did not invent the method, she was the first to use bias cuts for the entirety of a garment, revolutionizing women's clothing. Her apparently simple styles involved a lengthy preparation process using miniature dolls and life-size models. She used materials such as crêpe de chine, gabardine, and satin, ordering fabrics two yards wider than necessary. Characteristic styles include the handkerchief dress, cowl neck, and halter top. Her bias cut and urbanely sensual approach remain a strong influence on contemporary fashion, as evidenced by designers such as Ossie Clark, Halston, John Galliano, Comme des Garçons, Azzedine Alaïa, Issey Miyake, and Marchesa. Issey Miyake remarked that on seeing Vionnet's work for the first time, 'the impression was similar to the wonder one feels at the sight of a woman emerging from bathing, draped only in a single piece of beautiful cloth.'

Did You Know?

• Vionnet began her apprenticeship as a seamstress at age twelve.
• She was called 'perhaps the greatest geometrician among all French couturiers' in 1925 British Vogue.
• She instituted labor practices including paid holidays, maternity leave, day-care, a dining hall, and a resident doctor and dentist for her workers.
• Vionnet created some 12,000 garments over the course of her career.