Jeanne Lanvin: The Great Lady of Haute Couture

She not only founded the longest-running French fashion house, still in operation, but also embodied the emerging values of the modern independent woman, and was the first to envisage style as a way of life. Her patterns, shapes and fit, understated and streamlined, belied the virtuosity of her couturiers, evident in every minute detail of exquisite embroidery, topstitches, twists, spirals, and cut-outs. Such was the recipe that made the name Lanvin synonymous with sartorial excellence.

Jeanne Lanvin began her career making hats in 1885. She was the eldest daughter of a large family of modest means, discreet, hard working, and frugal–it is said that in order to save the cost of the ticket, she would run behind the horse-drawn bus to deliver hats to clients. In 1889, she opened a shop “Lanvin (Melle Jeanne) Modes” at 16 Rue Boissy d’Anglas, then in 1893 acquired her premises at 22 Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré.

In 1897, she gave birth to her only daughter, Marguerite, a turning point for Madame Lanvin. Her little girl became her primary source of inspiration, so much so that in making pretty dresses for her she hit upon the new idea of children’s clothes. She then opened the Young Ladies’ and Women’s department and joined the Syndicat de la Couture, the designers’ union, thereby entering the cloistered and male-dominated world of French fashion houses.

A constant reminder of her devotion to her Marguerite is on the Lanvin logo. In 1927 Lanvin created the iconic perfume Arpège. On the bottle, the design depicted mother and daughter, couturière and apprentice, and become the identity of the brand to this day.

Madame Lanvin was a thoroughly modern woman. A working mother, divorced and remarried before it was acceptable in society, head of a successful business and yet, in contrast, did not believe in fashion that was too practical, saying “modern clothes need a certain romantic feel… I try every season to enter the imponderable vogue in the air.”

The Palais Galliera, in close collaboration with Alber Elbaz, artistic director of Lanvin, honoured the French fashion house with a blockbuster Lanvin exhibition. (Run, don’t walk, to see it before it closed on August 23rd!) The palatial setting is the perfect backdrop for over a hundred splendid evening gowns, dresses and accessories spanning a century of creation. The signature geometry, the bolero, the beloved perky sweaters, they are all there. Her designs are so timeless that if you made your way out of the exhibition wearing one of her wedding gowns you could walk down the aisle as it had been specially conceived for you today.