"Back in the Day": Madeleine Vionnet

"When a woman smiles her dress should smile too"

Madeleine Vionnet

Madeleine Vionnet is known to the fashion world as the 'Queen of the bias cut', she was the first to introduce it to the scene after manipulating fabric on her miniature doll. Madeleine (1876-1975) was also french and like Madame Gres she founded her fashion house 'Vionnet' in 1912. Madeleine worked with a variety of fabrics such as chiffon, gabardine, satin and crepe de chine. These types of materials were a very unusual choice of fabric in the 20's and 30's and were rarely used to make clothing. She too had her own procedure in which she liked to work, unlike Gres Madeleine preferred to prepare her designs on miniature dolls before putting together the final garment on a life size model. Prices of such fabrics she liked to used were very dear at the time and despite being an expert she probably preferred to be safe than sorry. Vionnet dominated Haute Couture in the 1930's, her feminine and sensual gowns were worn by the greatest stars of that time. She had a reputation for innovating and setting trends. Madeleine was too an expert at understanding a female silhouette and had her own vision of how a perfect woman should be presented. Creating flow and motion to her creations made her garments also very comfortable. Vionnet was professional and successful and in the early 30's was at the peak of her career. She introduced the cowl and halter-neck, played around with positioning of zips as well and making pieces that were directly pulled over the head and hadn't required fastening at all. Her daring and curious character contributed technical knowledge to the fashion world. Unfortunately after 27 years of Vionnet Madeleine had no choice but to shut her business in 1939 due to the beginning of yet another World War. She was smart and her delicate and detailed work expresses femininity and graciousness. Some chosen images below show just that...