Madeleine Vionnet (1876-1975) referred to herself as the enemy of fashion. She believed that the whims of fashion were superficial and ever-changing, which offended her sense of beauty. Yet, fashion did not return the sentiment: it adored Madame Vionnet, who was ahead of her time. More precisely, she kept pace with the contemporary art of her day, which was undergoing a true revolution.
Her star shone brightly during the interwar years from 1919 to 1939. At elite parties, her dresses were worn by icons like Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, and Katharine Hepburn. Designers from various generations, including Cristóbal Balenciaga, Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, and John Galliano, drew inspiration from her work.
Born in the small French town of Chier-au-Bois, Madeleine came from a poor family and began learning the basics of sewing at the age of 11. Perhaps it was the hardships of her childhood that made her willing to take on any job. After a brief marriage at 18 and the loss of a child, the young woman needed to dull her pain and fill the void that suddenly appeared in her life. Thus, Madeleine had no choice but to embark on a path toward her own career. It remains unclear what standards she set for herself at that time.
Without influential relatives or money, she relied solely on her talent. It was this talent, along with her determination, that brought Madeleine to Paris, where she didn’t stay long before moving to London (without knowing English), which became the launching pad for her self-realization. In the Thames city, at the atelier of the renowned seamstress Kate Reilly, Madame Vionnet gained invaluable experience before returning to Paris. There, at the fashion house of the Callot sisters (Callot Soeurs), her significant transformation took place. The sisters did not stifle Madeleine’s imagination, and she soon felt like an independent entity in the snobbish world of Parisian haute couture.
A completely organic transition to her own business was next. In 1912, Madeleine Vionnet opened her own fashion house, aptly named Vionnet. Its operations, interrupted by World War I in 1914, resumed after the war ended in 1919. During the hiatus, Madeleine filled her mind with impressions from her travels in Italy, particularly from its architecture, sculpture, and painting. Ancient Roman art became her new source of inspiration, from which she borrowed many elements for her own style. Perhaps it was then that she first realized her true dream: to create clothing that would transcend time and remain relevant far into the future.
It took several years for the Vionnet fashion house to fully recover. In 1923, Madame Vionnet opened a new location on Avenue Montaigne. By 1925, she expanded her business across the ocean, opening a store on Fifth Avenue in New York City.
The Queen of Bias Cut
The clothing of the French designer attracted stars and aristocrats with its unique cuts, structural details, and fabrics. Like Coco Chanel, Madame Vionnet liberated women from corsets and initiated her own revolution in fashion.
She elevated the concept of chic simplicity to a new level, one that was familiar only to ancient goddesses. Madeleine Vionnet left behind frills, ruffles, and other overly sweet embellishments. She eliminated unnecessary seams, darts, and fastenings from her sewing arsenal. Instead, she introduced the world to the idea of a streamlined dress that adapted to the figure rather than altering it. In doing so, the couturier became one of the first to encourage women to embrace their natural shapes. Her designs featured unstructured clothing, often worn against bare skin, free from linings, corsets, and frameworks.
Instead of stiff fabrics, the designer used crepe, silk, chiffon, and satin. These materials lent an air of elegance and weightlessness to the wearers. Issey Miyake once aptly described the impression of a Vionnet dress as akin to witnessing a woman emerge from a bath wrapped in a piece of exquisite fabric.
From left to right: Evening dress of Lady Foley, designed by Madeleine Vionnet, 1935, France. Dress of Lady Foley, designed by Madeleine Vionnet, 1931, France.
It’s hard to recall who first dubbed Madeleine the architect of seamstresses and the queen of the bias cut. This particular cut was a key technique that helped the designer establish her unique style. Of course, many tailors had used the bias cut long before Madame Vionnet. However, they typically applied it to specific details of a garment, while she employed it to cut entire dresses, resulting in pieces that appeared more fluid and expressive.
In the creations of the Vionnet brand, fashion staples like the American armhole, cowl neck, scarf dress, and hooded dress took on new life. It seems that the queen of the bias cut achieved her dream of creating clothing that would transcend time, as 21st-century fashionistas eagerly draw inspiration from Madeleine Vionnet’s legacy.
In Lieu of an Epilogue
A brief sketch of this remarkable woman requires a few more details, without which fashion historians would consider the account incomplete.
They would certainly recall that under Madeleine Vionnet’s leadership, a vast team of 1,200 employees worked. Madame valued her staff, developing a social package for them that included medical care, vacation (including maternity leave), and a daycare center. She paid generously for the work of invited models. Additionally, as one of the first couturiers, she advocated for copyright, fighting against counterfeits. Madame Vionnet photographed every piece that left her atelier, branded them with tags, and meticulously cataloged them.
Model in a Vionnet evening dress with “Brouette” by Oscar Dominguez, photographed by Man Ray, 1937, France
At the onset of World War II, the designer closed her business. Unfortunately, the Vionnet fashion house was never revived, neither by Madeleine Vionnet herself nor by anyone else after her death in 1975.
Yet, the history of fashion retains her elegantly simple dresses and equally elegant sayings. For instance, she once remarked, “When a woman smiles, her dress should smile with her.”