There are many designers that have shaped fashion in France. However, before there was Dior and Chanel there was Jeanne Lanvin. Lanvin was a designer that paved the way for all the others to come after her but few know her name.
Jeanne was born on January 1, 1867 in Paris at 35 Rue Mazarine. She was the oldest of eleven children to parents Bernard Lanvin and Sophie Blanche Deshayes. Her mother was a seamstress and taught Jeanne at a very young age how to sew which came in very handy. With eleven mouths to feed, money was tight at the Lanvin home. Jeanne got a job working at a hat shop at the age of 13, where she was a natural fit. In just three years she served as apprentice milliner and in 1889 at 22 years old she opened her own shop in Paris on the Rue Boissy d'Anglas. Her hats were very popular with the Paris elite and she had a long waiting list for her custom hats, long before Coco Chanel ever touched a hat. That same year she created her fashion house which would become the oldest fashion house in the world.
In 1893 she signed a lease on a larger store at 22 Rue de Faubourg Saint Honoré, where her store remains to this day. While her business was growing she took enough time out to get married. On February 20, 1896 she married Italian Count Emile de Pietro and the next year her greatest inspiration was born. On August 31, 1897 Marguerite Marie Blanche came into the world and changed Jeanne’s life and business.
From hats she moved onto designing clothes for Marie Blanche. Jeanne creates custom dresses complete with lavish fabrics and embellishments for her daughter and for the “little girls about town”. When the two would walk through Paris they would garner all the attention by passers by including women that wanted the dresses for themselves. So many women begged her for the same designs that she pivoted her business and renamed it Lanvin (Mademoiselle Jeanne) Modes and began producing dresses for the women as well for little ladies.
In 1909, she expanded the store again, taking up more of the block that included the young lady and women's department where mom and daughter could shop together. Unfortunately her marriage wasn’t as successful and ended with a separation in 1902 and divorce the next year. In 1907 she married again to French journalist Xavier Mélet, but her focus and love was always her daughter and her work, although she kept a very quiet and low profile in the Paris fashion scene.
In 1918, she took over the entire building and added ten workrooms and a fur department. Always a clever business woman she also set up a system where women could store their fur coats for the summer months. It would get them into the store and would always leave with a few new frocks. After a weekend at the coast and a vacation in the mountains she saw a need for sportswear, long before ol Coco did it. Lanvin designed swimsuits, beach and tennis wear and everything you need for a weekend skiing. Jeanne also created an entire men's department, creating suits and casual fashion and becoming the first designer to dress the entire family.
On a rare night out, she met decorator Armand Rateau at a Paris party. She was looking to branch out even more and the two began talking and decided to team up. With Armand they would create home goods including furniture, drapes and linens all in her custom colors that she loved. Her eye for colors was so specific in 1922 she opened her own dye factory in Nanterre. Her very specific colors included Lanvin blue she created after seeing the color on a Fra Angelico fresco in Florence in the 1920’s. Other colors included Rose Polignac named for her daughter and Vert Velazquez, but she also loved the chicness of black and used it in her designs frequently.
Not wanting to follow trends she stayed with her own aesthetic, creating her own look that drew very loyal fans. The bouffant style was falling out of fashion but she stayed with it. The style was perfect for women of all shapes and sizes and they loved her for staying with it. Jeanne also created her own silhouette, the Robe de Style with its fitted bodice and wide skirt, today we also call it the fit and flare.
In 1924, she decided she wanted her own fragrance. Only designer Paul Poiret had done this before her, long before Coco. Her first fragrance was called My Sin, which became a huge hit in the US. In 1927 as a gift to her daughter on her 30th birthday, her newest fragrance Arpége was released. Marie-Blanche was an accomplished opera singer and musician and when she first smelled the notes of jasmine, honeysuckle and lily of the valley she said “it smelled of the arpeggio notes played in succession on the piano. The fragrances were so popular in 1925 she had a factory built for the production of perfume where she was able to control the entire process.
Jeanne was happier staying in her office or at home with her family and reading her vast collection of art and history books. Many of the symbolism she saw in her travels and in books she would bring into her designs. She wasn’t found at salons and parties adding an air of mystery to her. Although she saw an early importance of spreading her brand to the United States. In 1915 when she presented at the International Exhibition in San Francisco which drew her a lot of attention which helped when her perfume debuted nine years later.
In 1935, the maiden voyage of the SS Normandie was headed to New York. With the French elite trapped on the ship for days, she held a fashion show of her newest season selling out her entire collection. She may have been quiet but she was fierce. During World War II when other houses closed she kept her workshops and store open employing over 800 people in her twenty-three ateliers. Her employees were her family and they were just as attached to her.
On July 6, 1946 in her apartment overlooking the Musée Rodin at 16 Rue Barbet, Jeanne Lanvin took her last breath. Her beloved daughter would take over the fashion house and carry on her vision. The business stayed in the family until 1994 when it was purchased by L’Oreal and then sold in 2001 to a private individual. Today her store on Rue Saint Honoré is still there.
Today you can visit the beautiful rooms that she once lived in, now moved into the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Friend and designer Armand Rateau transformed her apartment and it’s many rooms into the perfect expression of Jeanne in her signature colors. You can take in every detail of her boudoir, bedroom and bathroom. Donated to the museum in 1965 when the building she lived in was going to be demolished. The bedroom includes her Lanvin blue curtains that cover the wall. Each one was embroidered with white and light orange thread and copper wire and it is a sight to behold. Move me in now, please.
Jeanne Lanvin’s name is not one that is as known as so many other designers and she was fine with that. Karl Lagerfeld later criticized her for her low-key persona and Coco Chanel looked at her as one of her greatest rivals. Today everyone thinks it was Coco that pioneered perfume, sportswear, hats and the color black, but just like everything else that many people know about Chanel, it is completely wrong. It is Jeanne Lanvin that we owe so much.
Today it is still the oldest fashion house in the world. Louis Vuitton opened in 1854 and Hermès in 1837, but neither started in fashion. It’s the House of Jeanne that just keeps going.