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International couture: The opportunities and challenges of expansion, 1880–1920

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

10.1080/00076791.2011.626977

1743-7938

Lourdes Font,

Crafts, Textile, and Design

Abstract This paper explores the topic of the expansion of the haute couture businesses in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries across international frontiers. Concentrating on the period before and during World War I and on the couture houses of Worth, Paquin, Drecoll, Redfern, Boué Soeurs and Lucile, it argues that international expansion was accompanied by the rapid development of innovative marketing and promotional practices, but hampered by obstacles that were ultimately impossible to overcome. Keywords: fashioninternational businesshaute couturedesign piracy This article is part of the following collections: Fashion and Luxury Business Acknowledgements I would like to thank the Teaching Institute at the Fashion Institute of Technology for their support for my participation in the 'Fashions: Business Practices in Historical Perspective' conference; Rebecca Matheson, Lewis Orchard and Molly Sorkin, my fellow conference panellists, for contributing ideas during the development of this article; and Karen Trivette Cannell, Head of Special Collections and FIT Archives at the Fashion Institute of Technology, for her enthusiastic support for the research. Notes 1. Article from unidentified periodical, February 1883, in vertical files at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute, quoted by Coleman (1989, pp. 90–91). 2. The article is partially reproduced by Dorsey (1986, p. 137). Despite the couturier's German name, the house of Ernest Raudnitz is considered French, since from its foundation in 1883 it was located first at 23 rue Louis-le-Grand and after 1902 at 8 rue Royale and had no branches (Remaury, 1994, p. 466). 3. The first London tailor to open a Paris branch was Henry Creed in 1853, at 25 rue de la Paix (Garnier, 1987, p. 245). By the mid-1890s Creed had expanded into women's tailoring and dressmaking (Dorsey, 1986, p. 147). 4. Advertisements for the New York branch of Redfern & Sons at 210 Fifth Avenue appear regularly in the US weekly Life from 1884. The opening of the Newport branch is documented in Life (9 April 1885, p. 210) and in the New York Times (7 June 1885, p. 9); an advertisement in Life (20 May 1886, p. 322) lists the Saratoga branch, located on Broadway; according to Rand Macnally's Handy Guide to the Columbia Exposition of 1893, 'Redfern, the well-known English ladies' tailor, is located at 1702 Michigan Avenue' (p. 71), confirmed by an advertisement in Life (14 September 1893, p. 174), which also gives the Newport address as 119 Bellevue Avenue; ads in Life list the locations in Cowes, Manchester, Edinburgh and Nice (25 January 1894), and Aix and Cannes (22 February 1894, p. 128). 5. Callan (1998, p. 29) gives 1905 as the year of Beer's opening on the Place Vendome. Earlier Beer garments with Paris labels include a day dress dated c. 1895, Kyoto Costume Institute AC 7712-73-30-3AB and a reception dress dated c. 1902, Philadelphia Museum of Art 1967-16-3a,b. 6. Cécile Sorel was known for romantic fashions inspired by her roles in plays set in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and she was loyal to her personal style rather than to a particular couture house. Thus many houses benefited from her fame. She was photographed by Reutlinger wearing a Paquin evening dress (Les Modes, May 1907, p.9), a Callot Soeurs theatre coat (Les Modes, November 1907, p. 7) and one of the costumes, designed by Redfern, that she wore in the role of Marguerite in La Dame aux Caméllias (Fémina, 1 March 1912, cover). After World War I she was dressed by Lucile for her role in Le Prince d'Astruc (see Les Modes no. 192, 1920, p. 28, and Les Modes no.193, 1920, p. NP [2]) but still patronised Callot Soeurs, who designed her costume for the 'Sunset Ball' in May 1921(see Vogue [Paris], 15 June 1921, p. 20 and George Barbier's illustration, 'Mlle Sorel en grand habit', Le Bonheur du Jour, 1921). 7. Also see the July 1912 issue of Les Modes, which has a photograph of the actress Madeleine Cézanne on the cover, wearing a Drecoll evening dress. Like Les Modes, the rival magazine L'Art et la Mode in the same year listed the ocean liners where it could be found. 8. For example, an evening cape dated 1897 in the Museum at FIT (No. P83.19.7) bears a label that reads: 'Paquin \ Rue de la Paix, 3 / PARIS-LONDON'. 9. For example, the New York Times on 9 December 1913 carried an ad from Paquin-Joire for a sale of 'wonderful furs from Paquin's' and 'handbags, flowers, fans and head dresses' (p. 8). 10. If Paquin-Joire had been a branch of the Paris couture house in New York from 1912, then Mme Paquin's sister-in-law Suzanne Joire would not have discussed the possibility of opening one with a New York Times reporter in 1914 ('Fashion world expects Paris designer to enter New York', 1914, p. X4). 11. In 1893 the Paris fashion correspondent for the New York Times summed up Redfern's progress from ladies' tailor to couture house succinctly: 'They have obliged the world at large to become sensible as far as regards outdoor costumes, and their prestige then pushed them into theatre and ballroom' (20 March 1893, p. 50). In 1890 the New York branch still advertised as a 'Ladies' Tailor' (see, for example, Life, 23 January 1890, p.56) whereas in the spring of 1894 'Ladies' Tailor and Court Dressmaker' made it clear that they furnished the full spectrum of attire (Life, 11 March 1894, p. 142). 12. Ernest Redfern (c. 1855–1947) was described in the New York Times as follows: 'Mr.Redfern's easy and accomplished manners and handsome appearance give one the idea rather of a fashionable man of the world than of the able business man he is' (7 June 1885, p. 9) 13. Advertisements in Life (for example, 25 April 1886, p. 238; 17 February 1887, p. 100) attest to the importing of materials and model garments from Cowes, London and Paris. An 1885 advertisement declares that 'all orders can now be executed in eight days from receipt of order' (Life, 4 June 1885, p. 322). 14. According to Callan (1985, p. 158), Mainbocher was 'the first American to open a successful couture salon in Paris', and according to Milbank, he was 'the only American to carry on a successful business based in Paris' (1985, p. 166). 15. In an advertisement that appeared opposite the title page in Les Modes (August 1909), the name 'Green & Co.' at 23 rue de la Paix, is surmounted by a bald eagle clutching a shield emblazoned with stars and stripes and the legend 'Ideal Line'. 16. For example, Nelly Martyl of the Opéra Comique models a Green afternoon suit in the March 1909 issue of Les Modes and in October of that year Mlle Destrelles of the Théâtre du Vaudeville models a fur-trimmed coat on the magazine's cover. In 1912 L'Art et la Mode featured Green designs in the 13 July, 6 September and 28 September issues. 17. See the afternoon dresses and ensembles pictured in L'Art et la Mode, 13 July 1912 and 9September 1912. 18. Labels in Weeks garments suggest that during World War I he moved from no. 28 to no. 156, Boulevard Haussmann. 19. Among the Costume Institute's holdings is an afternoon dress of silk printed and embroidered with a peacock motif, with sleeves made of precisely matched pieces cut from the printed silk to form a third peacock pattern (Acc. no. 2009.200.293), three silk evening dresses embroidered with glass and metal beads (Acc. nos. 57.17.3, 57.17.6, and 2009.300.3569) and three evening coats (Acc. nos. C.I. 57.17.5, 2009.300.294, and 2009. 300.243); Dartmouth College Museum and Galleries in Hanover, NH houses a Weeks evening gown of silk and lace (No. 177-6-22479, Gift of Dr John Milne and Mrs Milne). 20. Max Meyer (1876–1953) was born in Alsace, emigrated to New York with his family at the age of 14, and soon after began working for the women's coat and suit manufacturer A. Beller, at first sweeping the snow off the sidewalk and eventually becoming the company's vice president and treasurer. After his retirement, he began a second career as a labour mediator and advocate for fashion education. He was one of the founders of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and was serving as its president when he died (Cherniss, 1980, p. 108.) 21. Like Max Meyer, Schwarcz was a European by birth and spoke French very well. He was born in Budapest in 1863 (Crawford, 1941, p. 108). 22. The Cunard passenger liner was attacked by a German U-boat and sank off the coast of Ireland. For Frohman's obituary see New York Times, 9 May 1915, p. C2; for Schwarcz's obituary notice see New York Times, 21 May 1915, p. 13. 23. A week after The New York Times announced that Poiret was planning to tour the United States (24 August 1913, p. C1), the paper reported that 'friends of Mme. Paquin are trying to persuade her to visit America this autumn' (New York Times, 31 August 1913, p. SM12). The events of Poiret's tour, 'a spectacular marketing campaign' accompanied by 'ample coverage' in the American press, are related by Troy (2003, pp.212–228). 24. New York Times, 3 March 1914, p. 4. The label reads: 'Paquin / PARIS / Londres, Buenos-Aires'. According to Dominique Sirop (1989, p. 88), the Buenos Aires branch was located at 1924, Avenida Alvear, and founded in 1915. 25. If this report is accurate, then Paquin-Joire, already established in New York, could not have been a branch of the Paris couture house, but another type of associated enterprise. 26. Two Boué Soeurs designs are illustrated in the commemorative publication Exposition universelle internationale de 1900, Les toilettes de la collectivité de la couture (1900). 27. Goldberg establishes the motivation for launching the New York branch, based upon an unpublished memoir by Philippe Montegut, son of Sylvie Montegut: 'By keeping their Paris salon as a base through which they manufactured the clothing for the New York branch and for their Parisian clients, the Boué sisters circumvented the problem of breaking loyalty with the women who worked for them' (Goldberg, 2003, p. 11). 28. See for example the advertisement in The New York Times, 21 October 1916, p. 17. 29. Milbank (1985, p. 71) reproduces the Boué Soeurs advertisement from 1926. 30. The advertisement states: 'A presentation of the entire Collection occurs daily from eleven to one and from three to five under the personal direction of Les Boué Soeurs, at the New York Establishment' (Milbank, 1985, p. 71). 31. For example, an ad published in Les Modes (July 1914) boasts two royal warrants andthe legend 'Fournisseur par Brevet Spécial'. Crawford wrote in 1940 that Redfern's 'salon in the Rue de Rivoli contained rows of framed royal warrants which established him as a favorite of British high society before the first war' (Crawford, 1941, p. 59). 32. The ready-to-wear line is documented in Sears, Roebuck and Co. Portfolio of Lady Duff-Gordon's Original Designs (Chicago: Sears, Roebuck and Co., Fall and Winter 1916–17) and Sears, Roebuck and Co., Portfolio of Lady Duff-Gordon's Original Designs: Wearing Apparel for the Women of America (Chicago: Sears, Roebuck and Co., Spring and Summer 1917). 33. The complex story of the end of Lucile, Ltd was traced by Molly Sorkin in her paper, 'The limits of expansion: Contraction and collapse in the haute couture, 1920–1940', presented on 11 June 2009 at the joint conference of the European Business History Association and the Business History of America, 'Fashions: Business Practices in Historical Perspective', held at Bocconi University in Milan. 34. Remaury (1994, p. 398) states that the London branch opened in 1932. However the Victoria & Albert Museum has catalogued a 1928 Molyneux evening dress (Acc. no. T.103.1949) as made in London.