Lanvin (Memoire)

Jeanne Lanvin, one of the great couturiers of the early twentieth century, gave up her careeer as a milliner when her clients began to demand copies of the dresses she had made for her younger sister and daughter. These youthful mother-and-daughter outfits made Lanvin famous. Her designs blurred the distinctions between women and young girls with fluid silhouette, flattering both a growing shape as well as one approaching middle age. Lanvin also created the very feminine and popular "robes de style" and romantic dresses. Her work is characterized by fine embroidery, superb craftsmanship, and harmonius colors-among them the "Lanvin blue," to which she gave her name.