Madeleine Vionnet
Published on October 28th, 2009.
Madeleine Vionnet was born in 1876 in Loiret, France. She is best known as the inventor of the bias cut.
Madeleine Vionnet
She began her apprenticeship as a seamstress at age 11. Vionnet married briefly at 18 but then left her husband and went to London to work as a hospital seamstress.
When she returned to Paris in 1912 she founded her own fashion house called ‘Vionnet’, this opened at 222 Ruede Rivoli. With the invention of the bias cut in the 1920′s Madeleine Vionnet became a household name in the world of Haute Couture.
Cutting fabric on the bias is the name given to the technique for cutting cloth diagonal to the grain of the fabric enabling it to cling to the body while moving with the wearer. Vionnets pattern cutting techniques were truly revolutionary.
Many of Madeleine Vionnets designs are highly influenced by Greek art, flowing garments that do not constrict the wearer but flow beautifully around the body.
Vionnet dominated the world of Haute Couture throughout the 1930′s. She was unlike many designers of the time. She disliked the world of fashion calling it ‘frivolus’. She also liked a private life. Despite this she designed for some of the biggest stars of the time such as Greta Garbo and Katharine Hepburn. She was once quoted as saying ‘when a woman smiles, then her dress should smile too’.
Madeleine Vionnet Design
Like many designers WWII forced Madeleine Vionnet to close her fashion house. On August 2, 1939, Vionnet showed her farewell collection.
Madeleine died in 1975 aged 98. Her dresses have a timeless quality, she will always be remembered for her mix of comfort, style and elegance.
Filled under Fashion History.
