Madeleine Vionnet

Madeleine Vionnet was born in 1876 in Chilleurs-aux-Bois, Loiret. As she was born in a poor family Vionnet worked as a seamstress at the age of eleven. After her brief marriage failed, she left her husband and worked as a hospital seamstress in London as well as working for Kate Reily. However Vionnet returned to Paris and trained for well known fashion associates, such as fashion house Callot Soeurs and Jacques Doucet.

Vionnet employed over 1,100 seamstresses in The House of Vionnet, which she found in 1912. The House of Vionnet was the first house to make ready to wear designs. In 1920’s Vionnet created her signature trademark The Bias Cut, allowing fabrics to cling onto women’s bodies and move with the wearer. Creating body-fitted looks helped transform women’s clothing making her famous in the fashion industry.

Vionnet was influenced by the modern dances of Isadora Duncan, creating corsets, padding, stiffening and any simple, accentuating designs for curvy female figures. Madeleine once said “when a woman smiles, then her dress should smile too.” Vionnet also created garments that floated freely around a woman’s body rather than deforming its shape as she was also inspired by ancient Greek art.   

Vionnet simple designs apparently involved a long process, including cutting, draping then pinning fabric designs onto small-sized dolls. Vionnet then would recreate them in chiffon, silk or Moroccan crepe onto actual size models. However Vionnet used materials that were not common by other well known fashion designers in the 1920s and 30s, such as crepe de chine, gabardine and satin. Vionnet was also know to order wider fabrics than necessary in order to create her designs (especially dresses) that clung to and moved with the wearer, including handkerchief dress, cowl neck and halter top.

In 1930s Vionnet created luxurious and sensual designs worn by stars, such as Marlene Dietrich, Katherine Hepburn and Greta Garbo. Later in the 1930s Vionnet started to mentor later designers passing on her signature movement, elegance and appreciation of the natural women figures. Vionnet expressed her dislike for the world of fashion and personal publicity as she believed “Insofar as one can talk of a Vionnet school, it comes mostly from my having been an enemy of fashion. There is something superficial and volatile about the seasonal and elusive whims of fashion which offends my sense of beauty.”

Madeleine Vionnet died in 1975. However, Vionnet’ bias cut has made her one of influential designers of the 20th century. Vionnet has been an inspiration in many well-known designers such as John Galliano, Issey Miyak and Halston……etc