Jean Patou. Une vie sur mesure

This original, illustrated monograph recounts haute couture designer Jean Patou's charmed life and career during the apex of twentieth-century glamour, and is drawn from extensive research into previously unpublished family archives. During the 1920s and 1930s, the French couturier Jean Patou was Chanel's main rival : day pyjamas, jersey sportswear, swimwear, and the little black dress were all among the innovative designs marking Patou's relatively brief career as the king of Parisian fashion. He died at the age of 49 in 1936, having had only fifteen years to make his mark on the history of couture. Yet in that short time this handsome ladies' man made a colossal fortune, employed 1,200 people in his shops and studios in Paris, Deauville, Biarritz, and New York, and invented some of the world's legendary fragrances-Joy and Que Sais-je among others-only to die alone and ruined in his hotel room the Hotel Georges V in Paris where he lived to escape creditors. This book recounts the story of Patou's charmed life and career during the most glamorous years of the twentieth century. For the first time, the heirs of the Patou family have agreed to open their extensive private archives to a researcher. The author, historian Emmanuelle Polle, spent more than two years opening box after box to choose from thousands of unpublished documents : photographs, diaries, client lists, and original, hand-colored sketches. The photographs of fashion designs, original fabrics, art deco furniture, perfume bottles, and vintage clothing photographed especially for this volume, alongside vintage prints by major names in fashion photography (Baron de Meyer, Laure Albin Guillot, or the Seeberger brothers)-retrace the universe of the remarkable aesthete and adept of a certain minimalism that was Jean Patou. This book will be an essential reference for anyone interested in the history of fashion and of the greatest years of Parisian style.

This original, illustrated monograph recounts haute couture designer Jean Patou's charmed life and career during the apex of twentieth-century glamour, and is drawn from extensive research into previously unpublished family archives. During the 1920s and 1930s, the French couturier Jean Patou was Chanel's main rival : day pyjamas, jersey sportswear, swimwear, and the little black dress were all among the innovative designs marking Patou's relatively brief career as the king of Parisian fashion. He died at the age of 49 in 1936, having had only fifteen years to make his mark on the history of couture. Yet in that short time this handsome ladies' man made a colossal fortune, employed 1,200 people in his shops and studios in Paris, Deauville, Biarritz, and New York, and invented some of the world's legendary fragrances-Joy and Que Sais-je among others-only to die alone and ruined in his hotel room the Hotel Georges V in Paris where he lived to escape creditors. This book recounts the story of Patou's charmed life and career during the most glamorous years of the twentieth century. For the first time, the heirs of the Patou family have agreed to open their extensive private archives to a researcher. The author, historian Emmanuelle Polle, spent more than two years opening box after box to choose from thousands of unpublished documents : photographs, diaries, client lists, and original, hand-colored sketches. The photographs of fashion designs, original fabrics, art deco furniture, perfume bottles, and vintage clothing photographed especially for this volume, alongside vintage prints by major names in fashion photography (Baron de Meyer, Laure Albin Guillot, or the Seeberger brothers)-retrace the universe of the remarkable aesthete and adept of a certain minimalism that was Jean Patou. This book will be an essential reference for anyone interested in the history of fashion and of the greatest years of Parisian style.

Au fil des planches, des arbres, des fruits, des fleurs, des bourgeons et des graines, nous découvrons ou réapprenons la biologie de la nature nourricière. La maison Deyrolle nous a ouvert ses archives pour redonner vie aux planches pédagogiques et historiques du "Musée scolaire Deyrolle" commencé vers 1871. Au dos de chaque page, Emmanuelle Polle a livré les clés de lecture et d'évasion qu'évoquent lignes et couleurs qui composent ces planches murales colorées. La préface est signée par le prince jardinier, Louis Albert de Broglie.

Les années 1920 fascinent. Elles évoquent des fumeuses aux coiffures aussi courtes que leurs jupes et aux tenues affolantes, rehaussées de plumes et de perles. Pourtant, cette décennie a beaucoup plus à offrir que des scènes de fêtes décadentes. L'ouvrage L'Age du Jazz. La mode dans les trépidantes années 20 propose une contribution nuancée à la compréhension de la mode des années 1920, au masculin comme au féminin. En plus d'évoquer l'histoire des twenties, cette étude originale souligne leur importance pour l'évolution ultérieure de la mode.