Madeleine Vionnet - Exhibit (Paris, France)

While most of the big-name designers these days tend to be men, it was the women who paved the way for many trends, looks and innovations in the fashion world. Whether it was Coco Chanel, Sonia Rykiel or Vivienne Westwood, one thing they all had in common was to liberate women with the clothes they created. Madeleine Vionnet was one such remarkable designer, which is why Les Arts Décoratifs (which had formerly also presented the Sonia Rykiel retrospective) has launched an exhibit to pay tribute to both her and her works. As I had previously seen only images of her incredible dresses, I couldn't wait to go check this out and my friend T. was eager to come along, because as she said correctly "there's nothing better than combining culture, history and really pretty clothes".

Left: Madeleine Vionnet in her studio. Right: A model in one of her dresses (images: Les Arts Décoratifs).

Those who have never heard of or seen anything by Vionnet will probably still appreciate her influence on the fashion world, as many of today's dresses, tops, skirts or blouses might still look completely different if she hadn't come along. Born into a somewhat poor family in 1876, Vionnet, who initially wanted to become a teacher, ended up taking an apprenticeship as a seamstress at the young age of 11. Following a short marriage at the age of 18, she left for London, working as a hospital seamstress, then returned to Paris to work with several fashion houses. Her own fashion house 'Vionnet' was opened in 1912 on rue de Rivoli, but closed shortly thereafter in 1914 when WWI broke out. Reopening the house in 1918, Vionnet successfully began imposing her modern style, the most revolutionary of which was the bias-cut, which she first used on crepe-de-chine material. This technique enabled fabric to cling to the body while moving with the wearer - something unheard of in an era when corsets, padding and other forms of stiffening tried to distort the natural curves of a woman.

The miniature mannequins Vionnet used to create her dresses (top image: NYT).

In wanting to show off a woman's natural curves, Vionnet was primarily inspired by Greek art which resulted in her experimenting with various forms of draping. The now ever-so-timeless Grecian dress was one of Vionnet's first creations. Unlike many, she never sketched or drew any designs, instead choosing to model her clothes on miniature 2 meter tall wooden dummies. This enabled her to try and test out ways in which she could drape fabric and how they could look like on the female body.

A few of the more simple draped dresses.

What I admire the most though, reading through her biography, was the revolutionary way in which she directed her couture house, which was later located on Avenue Montaigne. A socially and ethically committed woman, Vionnet, who employed up to 1200 workers, provided paid holidays, maternity leave, day-care, a dining hall, a resident doctor and dentist for her staff. Her motto: "Good health creates good work". She was also one of the first to campaign against counterfeiting in the fashion industry. Despite the latter, she wasn't particularly fond of the high-society fashion world, claiming: "There is something superficial and volatile about the seasonal and elusive whims of fashion which offends my sense of beauty" and later on in 1960: "What I do is not fashion - it was designed to last forever".

Vionnet's use of other materials incl. velvet (left). Floral pieces (right).

Beautifully embroidered gowns.

The one thing that blew my mind upon entering the exhibition space was that every single dress there could easily be worn today. Many of them were red-carpet worthy, I spied at least 20 potential wedding dresses (why didn't I see this last year??) and some were simple yet flattering enough to be worn on a daily basis. My friend T. who tends to be punished by the fashion world for having a slightly curvier body, remarked how she adored these dresses because they would flatter any shape, including hers. Indeed, Vionnet was about creating beauty - not just for the stick-thin model but for any woman. A lot of the photo and video footage we saw showed her modeling her final creations on average models, i.e. they weren't particularly tall or waif-like.

More gorgeous draping.

At this point I'd like to apologize for the somewhat crappy quality of the photos I took, as the various exhibition spaces were either very dark or too bright. Each of the 122 gowns was accompanied by a small video monitor, showing sketches or photos of the dress in its historical context. The pieces were categorized by type, i.e. one corner displayed the fringed outfits, while another showcased her use of embroidery. Most of them of course showed the different ways of draping. As Vionnet once said "I only like decoration if it plays second to the architecture of a dress."

It's no surprise that many of the bigger designers respect(ed) her and were deeply influenced by her work. Cristobal Balenciaga considered her a true friend, Lagerfeld, despite his loyalty to Coco as the women's liberator, acknowledges her importance and John Galliano, himself a fan of the bias-cut which he revived to launch his own career, is so passionate about this Paris exhibit, he has urged his entire staff to go see it.

This simple white Grecian dress, cinched at the waist with a gold-leaf belt was T.'s favorite.

Pictures of this dress (left) don't do it justice... the shimmering embellishments were stunning.

I figure it's best to let the pictures and clothing do the talking, as I couldn't possibly go into the detail of describing the pieces. In fact, I was so overwhelmed by what I saw, I might be tempted to go back again. What I can tell you is that everything I saw was magnificent, and I'm still amazed that creations this old could still look so modern. The detailing on each piece was incredible and the only downside was that you ended up wanting so many of these gowns for yourself - they really should have sold replicas in the gift shop. Vionnet was forced to close down her business in 1939 (because of WWII), so the 'youngest' item in the collection is still 70 years old.

The gown on the bottom right was one of my favorites.

Since then, many have tried to revive the fashion house, with Rodolfo Paglialunga (Prada) currently designing the collections - a first look at his work was the Resort 2010 range, which showcased the bias-cut and Grecian draping of course, but without completely imitating the classic Vionnet look. His upcoming show at the Paris Fashion Week will most likely be eagerly anticipated. But for now, if you're in town or anywhere nearby, I'd urge you to go see this - it's on until 31 Jan 2010. It definitely gave me a new appreciation for fashion design and the history behind it. If you wish to read and see more of Vionnet, I'd also highly recommend getting the official book via Amazon here.

More items from the exhibition and close-ups (images: Les Arts Décoratifs).

Address: 107 rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris
Opening Hrs: Tue-Fri: 11:00-18:00, Sat-Sun: 10:00-18:00
Thu: until 21:00
Les Arts Décoratifs Homepage