Women Who Made History: Madeleine Vionnet

Madeleine Vionnet in her studio.

This is Madeleine Vionnet. Born in 1876, a seamstress at the age of eleven, she eventually became one of the most influential fashion designers of the 20th century with her famed "House of Vionnet" which opened in 1912 and operated through the late 1930's. Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano, Christian Dior, Azzedine Alaia and Cristobal Balenciaga all name Vionnet as a major influence.

Although the fashion world loves to attribute the liberation of women from the corset to Coco Chanel, it was in fact Madeleine Vionnet who was responsible. And it was not just her clothes that were pioneering – Vionnet campaigned for copyright laws to protect designers, was one of the first employers to give maternity leave, paid holidays and free medical care to her staff.
But for now let's talk fashion....Look at this dress.

Influenced by the modern dances of Isadora Duncan, she was inspired by the unmatched grace of historical Grecian drapery in which the fabric seemed to flow around the human body. Vionnet's mastery of the "bias-cut",  allowed her to integrate movement and comfort into the designs of her dresses. A bias-cut is when fabric is cut diagonal to the weft and weave. This enhances its "stretch" and allows the fabric to lie closer to the body. Remember the movie stars of the 30's? Greta Garbo and Katherine Hepburn amongst others wore her designs.

Madeleine Vionnet didn't draw her designs, but instead worked with a two foot dress doll, (shown in the top picture) to work in three dimensions. She saw herself more an architect than a fashion designer and didn't appreciate the fleeting fashion market. “What I did is not fashion — it was designed to last forever,” she said much later in 1960's. Today her clothes are still timeless and contemporary.

The idea of allowing a person to express motion and comfort through clothes was revolutionary at the time. Her apparently simple styles involved a lengthy preparation process, including cutting and draping and proves that simplicity is often not that simple.

When I make my own clothes, comfort and free motion are crucial. That's why I often use knit fabric like jersey, so I can have the clothes close to my body, but still move freely. I would love to wear draped garments, but I'm 5 foot 2" (and no Greta Garbo). Any attempt to drape fabric around my body makes me look like an unmade bed. But I'm determined to make this work. Maybe I should start with a bias-cut skirt?

If you would like to explore this grand dame of fashion, here are two inspiring books:
Madeleine Vionnet
Betty Kirke (Author)

# ISBN-10: 0811819973
# ISBN-13: 978-0811819978

Madeleine Vionnet
Pamela Golbin (Editor), Patrick Gries (Photographer)
# ISBN-10: 0847832783
# ISBN-13: 978-0847832781