Jeanne Lanvin is a French fashion designer. She founded the Lanvin fashion house in Paris. Our heroine was born in 1867 in the capital of France. Her father was journalist Konstantin Lanvin.
Biography
Jeanne Marie Lanvin was the first child in the family. Subsequently, she had nine sisters and brothers. Some information sources even speak of ten. The family's income was modest, so Jeanne Lanvin found a job at the age of thirteen. She was a clerk in Madame Bonnie's workshop. The girl worked there for three years. In 1883 Jeanne went to Madame Felix. Her atelier was located on the corner of Rue Bussy d'Angleise and Rue Faubure Saint-Honoré. After some time, the girl began working in the fashion house of Suzanne Talbot.
Debut
Couturier Jeanne Lanvin opened her first hat shop in 1885, it did not last long. Soon the father of our heroine, who was then 18 years old, signed a contract with the dressmaker Maria-Berta Montague de Valenti for training. The woman worked in Barcelona. Konstantin Lanvin wanted his daughter to master the sewing business. The agreement was signed for 3 months. However, a real friendship arose between the young Jeanne and Maria. Thanks to her, our heroine spent fiveyears in Barcelona. She returned in 1890 to Paris. Thanks to the money earned, taking a loan, Zhanna opened a new hat studio. It was located on Rue Faubure Saint-Honoré.
Marriage
In 1896 Jeanne Lanvin got married. Her chosen one was the Italian nobleman Emilio di Pietro. However, their union broke up after eight years. In this marriage, Marguerite Marie Blanche was born - the only daughter of our heroine. Subsequently, she became an opera singer and became famous in the high society of Paris as Marie-Blanche de Polignac.
The daughter became a true joy for her mother, an inspiration, a muse and pride. Marie Blanche had an excellent ear for music. Jeanne adored her and wanted the girl to always be smartly dressed. She had the idea to create clothes for children in the atelier. Marie-Blanche recalled that she was a small fashion model. On it, Lanvin presented her new models. The image of mother and daughter is iconic for the Lanvin fashion house.
For the little ones
At that time, clothes for children were only a simplified version of what adults wore. Jeanne Lanvin began to create costumes for the little ones. It was these clothes that became the basis for her fashion atelier. Models were developed directly for children and took into account their characteristics. Lanvin's clothes were designed for her daughter, but began to attract we althy people who visited the atelier. They asked our heroine to sew similar new clothes for her own children.
Lanvin clothes were distinguished by the use of quality fabrics,attention to the smallest details, quality workmanship. Everything was possible in this fashionable house for a child. In particular, masquerade costumes, muffs and hats, elegant dresses and casual wear were presented here.
Second marriage and further activities
Jeanne Lanvin remarried in 1907. Her chosen one was Xavier Mele, a journalist. The two of them traveled a lot. New impressions contributed to the birth of original ideas. From trips, our heroine brought a large number of different fabrics. She collected them. Thus, the so-called fabric library was born in her home.
Since 1909, Jeanne has taken up clothes for ladies in adulthood. She often created ensembles for mother and daughter. Lanvin entered the world of haute couture and became a full-fledged couturier. The period of the First World War temporarily suspended the development of the Fashion House. After the end of these tragic events, the activities of our heroine unfolded on a grand scale.
The real glory came to Lanvin in the twenties. In 1918, she occupied the building located on the Faubure Saint-Honoré. There were workshops, ateliers and her own apartment. Such an organization was a novelty in the era described.
Fashion houses at that time often outsourced complicated orders. Since 1915, after our heroine visited San Francisco for the World's Fair, she visited the United States regularly. Like a number of other couturiers, Lanvin recognized the importance of the American market to Paris fashion. Her company was doing well. Thus Lanvin becamefamous and we althy person.
The silhouettes of the clothes she created generally followed the fashion trends of her time, but she could step aside from the canons and offer something original if she considered it necessary. An example is women's dresses, which were called Robe de style.
In the twenties, almost boyish thin female figures came into fashion. They had an implicit waist and narrow hips. However, not all ladies could afford such clothes, although many of them tried to lose weight. Then Jeanne Lanvin developed a completely different option. Over the years, some details have changed, but the main elements have remained: a puffy skirt, a slightly low waist. Such clothes evoked good thoughts about the 18th century.
Since 1925, Lanvin has been producing perfumes. After the death of our heroine (July 6, 1946), the management of the house was entrusted to her daughter. In 2001, designer Alber Elbaz took over the management. Since then, the brand has retained a strong identity and mainly produces haute couture clothes.
