Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Madeleine Vionnet and Galeries Lafayette : The unlikely marriage of a Parisian couture house and a French department store, 1922–40

2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 54; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00076791.2011.617208

1743-7938

Florence Brachet Champsaur,

Crafts, Textile, and Design

Abstract In the past, fashion history has traditionally produced monographs on talented designers emphasising the creativity of the luxury couture business and the tastes of its elite clientele. This case study, based on the unpublished records of Galeries Lafayette, offers a balanced and decompartmentalised interpretation of relationships among the players in the fashion system. Fashion designer Madeleine Vionnet never considered herself an artist and was well aware of the commercial aspects of the business, while the owner of Galeries Lafayette, Théophile Bader, tried to generate corporate synergy between the couture house and the department store. The examination of the partnership between Vionnet and Bader raises important questions, not only about counterfeiting but also about the transfer of creativity from designers to manufacturers. Keywords: Madeleine Vionnet Galeries Lafayette fashioncouturedepartment storesretaildiversificationcopyrighttransfer of creativitylicensing This article is part of the following collections: Fashion and Luxury Business Acknowledgements A previous version of this paper was presented at the BHC conference in June 2009. Many thanks to Francesca Polese for her interest in this presentation. This research has benefited from the support and constructive advice of Professor Patrick Fridenson. I am grateful to Regina Lee Blaszczyk for her help in consulting the American press archives. I would like to thank Ludovic Cailluet, Carlos Huber, Elodie Nowinski, and Véronique Pouillard for their generous comments on preliminary versions of this paper. They do not share in remaining errors. Unless otherwise indicated, all translations from French to English are my own. Notes 1. On narratives see Hansen (2006). 2. La Gazette du Bon Ton, promotional dummy edition (Weill, 2000, p. 7). 3. For example, Paul Poiret was innovative by associating couture and perfume for the first time in a subsidiary called 'Les parfums de Rosine' in 1911 (Poiret, 1931). 4. In 1900, Galeries Lafayette registered as a trademark for retailing but also for manufacturing activities. Trademark registration no. 67147; Classe XXXVIII – Habillement, BOPI, 1900, p. 720, INPI. 5. In 1912, Georges Lepape worked as an illustrator for both the haute couture dressmaker Paul Poiret and Galeries Lafayette. Catalogues. Archives Galeries Lafayette (GL). 6. Excelsior modes (Summer 1933); Catalogue Général, Au Bon Marché (March 1934). Archives GL; 'Manteaux pour dames. 3 modèles Haute Couture' [Coats for ladies. Three haute couture designs], Catalogue Général, Aux Galeries Lafayette (August 1932). Archives GL. 7. Aristide Boucicaut became a partner of Le Bon Marché in 1852 and rapidly turned it into a department store. Les Grands Magasins du Louvre (1855), Le Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville (1857), Au Printemps (1865), and La Samaritaine (1870) would follow in Paris. 8. Les nouveaux bâtiments de la rue de Crimée (1921). Press archives. Archives GL. 9. Registration of the deed of incorporation. D32U3 105. Archives de Paris (Archives of the Paris department). 10. Association en commandite simple [limited partnership]. Archives GL (cf. Guinnane & Rosenthal, 2009). 11. Maître Revel (13 April 1922). Deed filed. [Project for new articles of association]. Archives GL. 12. Private deed (22 June 1922). [Registered on commercial court on 17 August 1922. To take effect on 1 January 1923]. D32U3 329. Archives de Paris. 13. In 1909, Paul Poiret had been one of the first couturiers to move to the district of the Champs-Elysées. Callot Soeurs, one of the leading couture houses, moved to avenue Matignon in 1914. 14. Maître Revel (31 March 1932). Deed filed. Archives GL. 15. Notarial deed (13 April 1922) [Bail par Messieurs Bader et Kahn à la Société Madeleine Vionnet et Cie]. Archives GL. 16. Maître Revel (8 and 13 April 1922). Deed filed. Archives GL. 17. Deeds filed (3 and 22 June 1922). [New contractual provisions applicable to the lease granted by Messrs Bader and Kahn to the company Madeleine Vionnet & Cie]. Archives GL. 18. Conventional agreement (9 November 1922). [Engagement par Monsieur Bader de faire ouvrir un crédit en Banque à la Maison Madeleine Vionnet & Compagnie jusqu'à concurrence de un million cinq cent mille francs. Undertaking given by Mr. Bader with respect to the opening of a line of bank credit for the fashion house Madeleine Vionnet & Company up to maximum of 1,500,000 francs]. Archives GL. 19. Considered as one of the most attractive and spacious townhouses in Paris (L.M., 1924, pp. 2–3). 20. Ernesto Michahelles, best known under his pseudonym Thayaht, was an Italian artist involved in the Futurist movement. He is also the designer of the TuTa, a utopian overall garment, in 1919. At the same period he started designing models for Madeleine Vionnet and designed the famous logo of the couture house. He had been art director for Madeleine Vionnet until 1924. 21. On 15 March 1923 a new investor, the wealthy Argentine Eduardo Martinez de Hoz, took the place of Emile Akar. Notarial act. D31U32170. Archives de Paris. His wife, the beautiful Dulce Martinez de Hoz, was one of Madeleine Vionnet's emblematic clients. 22. Archives GL. 23. For more development on price-point stores see Brachet Champsaur and Cailluet (2010). 24. Board meeting, report (17 January 1936). Archives GL. 25. M. Vionnet, Archives Madeleine Chapsal (quoted in Saurat 2009, p. 295). 26. The correspondence between Théophile Bader and Madeleine Vionnet in the records of Galeries Lafayette is dated 1924. No more letters have been found after this year. We can make the statement that from 1925 Bader would deal directly with Trouyet, his representative in the firm. 27. In a report dated 23 January 1922, Ferdinand Chanut announced that the industrial building had been completed. Archives GL. 28. For an overview see Moutet (1997). 29. T. Bader (25 March 1924). [Letter to Madeleine Vionnet]. Archives GL. 30. Archives GL. 31. Archives GL. 32. T. Bader (25 March 1924). [Letter to Madeleine Vionnet]. Archives GL. 33. Liane de Pougy belonged to the demimonde of courtesans and actresses who were also considered as fashion leaders. 34. This price is for an expensive garment. In that same year a dress in crêpe de chine could be bought for 125 francs at Galeries Lafayette. Catalogue GL (November 1922). [Etrennes utiles] Archives GL. 35. As confirmed by a letter from Théophile Bader to Madeleine Vionnet after attending the presentation of her new summer collection on 25 March 1924. Archives GL. 36. Draft articles of association (1922). Archives GL. 37. T. Bader (25 March 1924). [Letter to Madeleine Vionnet]. Archives GL. 38. T. Bader (25 March 1924). [Letter to Madeleine Vionnet]. Archives GL. 39. T. Bader (25 March 1924). [Letter to Madeleine Vionnet]. Archives GL. 40. C. Claude, 'Les livres de vente de la Maison Madeleine Vionnet', Madeleine Vionnet. Documentation for the exhibition at the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague – 1999, archives UCAD. 41. Equivalent to $1800 in 2011 US dollars. 42. None of the four fragrances developed with the famous perfume maker Rallet, and named alphabetically A, B, C, and D, became a blockbuster as Chanel No. 5 did. It is worth noting that Vionnet's perfumes, contrary to Chanel's, were not distributed by Galeries Lafayette. Gabrielle Chanel launched her first perfume, No. 5, in 1921, and in 1924 the Chanel perfume company was founded, based on the partnership between Gabrielle Chanel, the Wertheimer family (owners of Bourjois perfumes), and Théophile Bader who had been selling No. 5 at Galeries Lafayette since 1923. Archives GL. For an overview see Jones (2010). 43. Catalogue GL (1940). Archives GL. 44. T. Bader (25 March 1932). [Letter to Maître Guelot. Draft of a letter from Théophile Bader to Madame Vionnet]. Directory notes. Archives GL. 45. Association dissolution (29 June 1939). D33U3 237. Archives de Paris. 46. The Matignon Agreements (les accords de Matignon) were a historic legal agreement signed on 7 June, 1936 between employers and workers trade union confederations and the French government after a wave of sit-down strikes. They led to higher wages for workers and guaranteed important social advances such as a 40-hour working week and paid holidays. 47. On copyright and French policy on counterfeiting see Pouillard (2011). 48. Alphonse Kahn died in 1927. 49. T. Bader & G. Chanel (24 April 1923). [Exclusive retailing agreement]. Sales staff rule book (1932). [Departments list]. Archives GL. 50. Founded in 1966, Promostyl is considered to be the first French company in this sector (see Maillet, 2006).