Jeanne Lanvin

    1867-1946

          Jeanne Lanvin was born in Paris, France in 1867. She spent much of her youth as a seamstress and millinery apprentice. In 1883 Jeanne was employed to trim hats in Madame Felix’s workshop. She established her own millinery workshop when she was eighteen in 1885; she only had forty francs of cash and three hundred francs in credit. Jeanne married an Italian aristocrat in 1895, the marriage was brief but they had a child together. Her child inspired her to begin her design career. In 1908 Lanvin opened a children’s clothing store in her millinery shop, a year later she opened a department for women and girls. She joined the Syndicat de la Couture the rulers of the haute-couture industry.  Her first designs were long and lender with and empire waist that was comfortable. Jeanne Lanvin died in 1946 and her daughter became the managing director of her company. Her signature color “Lanvin blue” was inspired by fifteen- century Italian frescoes of Fra Angelico. She wanted to create perfect colors so she opened up her own dye factories, this made everything she made original and no one could duplicate the colors. The beading and embroidery were inspired by exotic destinations, Jeanne loved to travel and collect objects to inspire her.

Jeanne Lanvin was very forward thinking for her time, she was very influenced by exotic elements from all of her travels. Some of her work reminds me of Paul Poiret, the sleek lines and exotic feel are a lot like Poiret. Her designs were freeing and unstructured; this really showed the feeling of the times with women’s rights and empowerment. Jeanne Lanvin to me is an Icon, her styles have stayed true throughout time, and the company is still operating and making beautiful clothing just like Jeanne did.

    

            Jeanne Lanvin inspires many designers but one of the more pertinent designers that she inspired was Elsa Schiaparelli. Schiaparelli said in her biography that “if Mme. Lanvin was able to succeed, perhaps I might also succeed!”

Jeanne Lanvin also influenced Madame Gres to accommodate comfort with her dresses, that we see she has incorporated into her own designs.   

Works Cited

Home : Berg Fashion Library. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. <http://bergfashionlibrary.com>.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Home. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. <http://metmuseum.org>.

Palomo-Lovinski, Nöel. The World's Most Influential Fashion Designers: Hidden Connections and Lasting Legacies of Fashion's Iconic Creators. New York, NY: Barron's, 2010. Print.

Stylesight: Home. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. <http://stylesight.com>.