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[dd20century]

Roberto Cavalli Fashion Designer to the Stars Dies

Roberto Cavalli on the runway at a 2013 show. Image source. Photo credit: Savo Prelevic/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Design and Desire in the Twentieth Century mourn the passing of iconic Italian fashion designer Roberto Cavalli. Cavalli was as famous as his list of celebrity clientele including Cindy Crawford, Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, and Victoria Beckham among others. Best remembered for using animal prints in his seductive designs, he also revolutionized the jeans industry in 1993 by introducing denim with a Lycra blend that resulted in a sexier form-fitting design.

Mr. Cavalli died on April 12, 2024, at his home in Florence, Italy. No cause of death was given, but it had been known that the designer had been in ill health. He is survived by his six children and his partner Sandra Bergman Nilsson.

Read Roberto Cavalli's obituary on Forbes.com.

[dd20century]

The New Formalist: Edward Durell Stone

This is the second part of a two-part post. Read part one.

Stone’s Academic Career

During the late 1940s into the early 1950s Stone was an “associate professor of architecture at the Yale University School of Architecture” (2). His reputation allowed him to connect with other prominent architects in academia such as Walter Gropius at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, and Pietro Belluschi, dean of MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning. He also guest lectured on architecture at Cornell, Princeton, and Stanford. (2)

A New Woman Brings a New Influence to Edward Durell Stone’s Life

Edward Durell Stone and his first wife, Sarah, divorced in 1952. After his divorce, while on a transatlantic flight, Stone found himself seated next to “Maria Elena Torchio, a fashion writer… and proposed to her before the plane landed” (1). The couple were married in 1954 and “would have two children, Benjamin Hicks Stone III and Maria Francesca Stone” (2).

Stone’s Pivotal Commission in India

In 1954 Stone’s firm was commissioned by the United States government to design a new embassy in New Delhi, India.  Stone strived to create a “modern structure that would respect the architectural traditions of its host country” (2). The embassy would define a major shift in Stone’s style which would become known as “New Formalism.” The most prominent feature of the clean, elegant building is its decorative concrete grille. Stone’s hero Frank Lloyd Wright who rarely praised the work of other architects, publicly lauded it (2,4).

Edward Durell Stone, United States Embassy (1954), New Delhi, India. Image source.

Architecture critic Paul Goldberger called it “one of the best‐known pieces of American architecture of the decade” (1). The success of the United States Embassy in New Dehli established Stone’s place as a major American Twentieth Century architect. It also led to important commissions such as the “John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, … the General Motors Building in New York, and the State University of New York campus at Albany” (1). “Business Week called him ‘the man with a billion on the drawing board’ ”(3).

“These designs fused the formalism of Stone's early Beaux-Arts training with a romantic historicism, … influenced, in part, by Maria Stone's Italian origins” (2). The couple took several trips to Italy during this time which “reawakened his interest in the classical and Italianate” (2) architecture. While Stone did not intend that his work copy classical architecture he hoped that his work would embody its timelessness. (2)

Edward Durell Stone, Koff Apartments (1965), Deerfield Beach, FL. Image source.

Stone becomes a Celebrity Architect

Edward Durell Stone’s work garnered him publicity both at home and internationally. In 1958 Time did a cover story on the architect. He appeared on many television programs, including Edward R. Murrow’s “See It Now.” Stone published his autobiography, The Evolution of an Architect in 1962. (5)

Edward Durell Stone,  Carlo M. Paterno House, aka The Atrium House (1962), demolished around 2010. Image source.

Huntington Hartford Gallery of Modern Art

Stone’s later work “became more romantic and more highly embellished” (1), such as the Huntington Hartford Gallery of Modern Art built on Columbus Circle in New York City in 1964.

Paul Goldberger described the building as “an eccentric marble box on delicate legs with arches at top and bottom and characteristic Stone grill work tracery up and down the sides.” The structure's delicate legs caused many New Yorkers to refer to it as “The Lollipop Building.” In the mid-2000s the structure would become embroiled in a controversy over preservation.

“New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission refused to consider its eligibility for landmark status” (2). Little of Stone’s original design remains after its renovation designed by architect Brad Cloepfil. (7)

Edward Durell Stone, Huntington Hartford Gallery of Modern Art - Two Columbus Circle (1964). Image source.

Edward Durell Stone’s Later Work

Stone’s firm continued to “garner major architectural commissions”, and his later work includes, “the Standard Oil building in Chicago, Illinois (completed 1973); the First Bank Tower in Toronto, Ontario (completed 1975); and the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee (completed 1978)” (2). His last residential work was the Sheldon Cohen House (1976) in Greenwich, CT. (3) Although successful, these later works earned more scorn than praise from the critics.

Edward Durell Stone, First Bank Tower (1975), Toronto, Canada. Photo credit: Arild Vagen. Image source.

In 1966 Stone and his muse, Maria Elena Torch, divorced. He remarried in 1972, this time to his executive assistant, Violet Campbell La Stella. The couple had a daughter, Fiona Campbell Stone…. Declining health forced Stone to retire from active practice in 1974.” (2) His firm Edward Durell Stone & Associates, however, remained in business until 1993.

Stone’s Tributes and Legacy

During his career Stone had several honorary degrees bestowed on him including one from the University of Arkansas in 1951. (4). Stone received numerous awards for his work including the Medal of Honor from the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 1955. He became a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1958 (2). He won the Horatio Alger Award in 1971. (4) The Mullins Library at the University of Arkansas holds “an extensive collection of project and personal photographs in addition to a collection of architectural drawings and papers” (2).

Edward Durrell Stone died after a brief illness in New York City on August 6, 1978. (1) His career spanned five decades and encompassed Art Deco, the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright, Modernism, and his own unique decorative style of architecture, reacting against the cold International Style. As Paul Goldberger wrote, “Mr. Stone sought not to go beyond the International Style but to turn the clock back to a personal kind of modern architecture.”

References

Goldberger, P., (7 August, 1978). Edward Durell Stone Dead at 76; Designed Major Works Worldwide. https://www.nytimes.com/1978/08/07/archives/edward-durell-stone-dead-at-76-designed-major-works-worldwide-a.html

R. L. Skolmen and H. Stone, (n.d.). Edward Durell Stone: Life. https://www.edwarddurellstone.org/

Smart, G., (2024). Edward Durell Stone, FAIA (1902-1978). https://usmodernist.org/stone.htm

Wikipedia.com, (7 February, 2014). Edward Durell Stone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Durell_Stone

Edward Durell Stone, The Evolution of an Architect, (New York: Horizon Press, 1962), 92.

Britannica.com, (n.d). Edward Durell Stone, American architect. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-Durell-Stone#ref81069

Goldberger, P. (18 August, 2008). Hello, Columbus. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/08/25/hello-columbus

[dd20century]

The New Formalist: Edward Durell Stone

“A great building should be universal, not controversial.” --  Edward Durell Stone

New York Times architecture critic Paul Goldberger wrote in his obituary of architect Edward Durell Stone:

Edward Durell Stone's career as an architect was marked by a dramatic reversal of direction. He gave up a position as one of America's leading advocates of the International Style just as that austere modern style was gaining wide public acceptance, and he began instead to evolve a personal style that was lush and highly decorative, the very opposite of the International Style. (1)

This shift would be influenced by a woman, Durell Stone’s second wife, Italian designer Maria Elena Torch. As Durell Stone said, “Maria's fine Italian hand began to show in my attire and my work. Both began to move toward elegance.”

Edward Durell Stone on the right having dinner with (left to right) architect William Wesley Peters, Stone's then-wife Maria Torch Stone, and Frank Lloyd Wright. Photo credit: Charles Rossi.

Edward Durell Stone’s Early Years

Architect Edward Durell Stone was born on March 9, 1902, in the college town of Fayetteville, Arkansas. Durrell’s grandfather Steven K. Stone was a successful businessman, Durrell’s father “Benjamin Hicks Stone (1852-1942) graduated from Emory & Henry College, in Virginia, in 1873 and returned to Fayetteville to run his father's business” (2). In 1885 Benjamin Hicks Stone married Ruth S. Johnson, an English teacher. The couple “had four children, the youngest..., Edward Durell Stone” (2).

Young Edward showed early artistic promise. His mother encouraged him to take up drawing and woodworking. J. William Fulbright was one of Edward’s childhood friends. Fulbright would go on to become a United States Senator. The two men remained life-long friends. Stone attended the University of Arkansas in the early 1920s but was unsuccessful in all of his courses except drawing. His talent came to the attention of the head of the “university's art department, [Elizabeth Galbraith who] recognized Stone's talent and encouraged him” (2).

At that time Edward’s older brother James Hicks Stone was an architect practicing in Boston, MA. Elizabeth Galbraith reached out to the brother asking him “to take an interest in the boy” (2). Edward spent the summer of 1921 in Boston visiting the city’s architectural landmarks with James. The experience made an impression on the young Edward, leading him to his calling. In 1922 Edward moved to Boston and found work as an office boy at the architectural firm of Strickland, Blodgett & Law while he studied at the Boston Architectural Club at night. There Edward met architect Henry R. Shepley who hired him to work as a draftsman at Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch and Abbott. Shepley would become Stone’s most valued mentor. (2)

Edward Durell Stone, Radio City Music Hall, Auditorium, (1932), New York City. Image source.

Stone’s Early Architectural Career

“In 1925, Stone won a scholarship to Harvard University's School of Architecture” (2) and also studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1927 Stone won the Rotch Travelling Fellowship which gave him the resources to study in Europe for two years. (1, 2) Stone returned to the United States he moved to New York City, just before the start of the Great Depression in October 1929, where he was hired by, “a consortium of architects designing Rockefeller Center. There he worked on what was to be considered his first major early achievement, the design of the interiors of Radio City Music Hall” (2).

 “In December 1930, [Stone] married Sarah Orlean Vandiver (1905-1988), an American tourist he had met and courted in Venice. The couple had two sons, Edward Durell Stone, Jr. (1932-2009), and Robert Vandiver Stone” (2).

Donald Deskey was one of the architects that Stone worked with on the Radio City Music Hall project. This association led to Stone’s ‘first independent commission in 1933, the Mandel House, in Bedford Hills, New York, built for owners of a prominent department store” (2). Deskey served as the interior designer on that project. (2) “The Ulrich Kowalski House, also in Mt. Kisco” (4) was built the following year. With the success of the Mandel and Kowalski Houses, many more commissions followed, and in 1936 (3) Stone established his architectural firm at Rockefeller Center (2).

Edward Durell Stone, Richard M. Mandel House (1935), Bedford Hills, New York. Image source.

Stone and The Museum of Modern Art

From 1936 to 1939 Edward Durell Stone worked on what Newsweek magazine called, "the first large museum in America to be built according to the streamlined, ultra-modern 'international' style of modern architecture."(5) The project was the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. Stone collaborated with Phillip L. Goodwin. Stone served as design architect while Goodwin produced the architectural drawings. (2) During this time Stone was also designing a home in Old Westbury, NY for MoMA president Anson Conger Goodyear. (4)

In 1940 Edward Durell Stone drove across the United States. Traveling to Arizona and Wisconsin, he met with architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright’s use of materials and decorative patterning manifests itself in some of Stone’s later work. In San Francisco, Stone appreciated the use of natural materials used in regional architecture. His greatest takeaway from the trip, however, was his disappointment at how extensively Americans had marred the natural landscape. Quoting Durell, “I scarcely encountered a place where land was used wisely and where what has been built is beautiful” (6).

Edward Durell Stone's Service in World War II

As the United States had entered World War II, Edward Durell Stone enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces in the summer of 1942, “and was stationed in Washington, D.C. Stone entered as a captain and was promoted to the rank of major in November 1943. At his instigation, the Army Air Forces established a Planning and Design Section in July 1944” (2).

As chief of this section Stone was responsible for “the master plans for airfields in Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas” (2).  He also designed the Continental Air Command headquarters at what is now known as Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. (2)

Edward Durell Stone, William Thurnauer House (1949), Englewood Heights, New Jersey. Image source.

Stone’s Post-war Work

After the war, Edward Durell Stone reopened his architectural practice. Most of Durell’s commissions during this time were residential. The most notable were the David Stench House (1947) Armonk, NY and the William Thurnauer House in Englewood, New Jersey (1949). (2) Stone’s homes of the late 1940s ‘indicated the increasing influence of Wright — his buildings became lower, more horizontal, and relied more on the use of wood” (1).

 His non-residential projects included the 300-room El Panama Hotel in Panama City, Panama, “notable for its pioneering use of cantilevered balconies in the construction of a resort hotel” (7). In 1948 Stone designed Fine Arts Center for the University of Arkansas in his hometown of Fayetteville, AK. The center featured works by Alexander Calder and Gwen Lux, friends of the architect. (2)

Postcard photo of Edward Durell Stone's El Panana Hotel (1946), Panama City, Panama. Image source.

Read part two of The New Formalist: Edward Durell Stone.

References

Goldberger, P., (7 August, 1978). Edward Durell Stone Dead at 76; Designed Major Works Worldwide. https://www.nytimes.com/1978/08/07/archives/edward-durell-stone-dead-at-76-designed-major-works-worldwide-a.html

R. L. Skolmen and H. Stone, Edward Durell Stone: Life. https://www.edwarddurellstone.org/

Smart, G., (2024). Edward Durell Stone, FAIA (1902-1978). https://usmodernist.org/stone.htm

Wkikpedia.com, (7 February, 2014). Edward Durell Stone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Durell_Stone

"The Glass-Temple Museum: Modern Art Display Takes Over Own Building in New York," Newsweek (22 May 1939): 32.

Edward Durell Stone, The Evolution of an Architect, (New York: Horizon Press, 1962), 92.

Britannica.com, (n.d),.Edward Durell Stone, American architect. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-Durell-Stone#ref81069

[dd20century]

Stylist Maven Iris Apfel Dies

With tremendous sadness Design and Desire in the Twentieth Century has learned that 102-year-old designer and stylist Iris Apfel died on March 1, 2024. Recognized for her shock of white hair, oversized power frames, and colorfully unique fashions, Ms. Apfel and her husband ran a successful interior design business until she retired in the early 1990s. Later, as Robert D. McFadden of The New York Times describes Ms. Apfel "continued to act as a consultant to the firm and to be the otherworldly woman-about-town, a soaring free spirit known in society and to the fashion cognoscenti...."

Iris Apfel. Photo credit: Getty Images. Image source.

With the advent of social media, Ms. Apfel's popularity soared and reached new audiences. She and her incredible fashions have been the subject of museum exhibitions, a book, and a 2014 documentary film. Mattel even made a Barbie doll in her likeness.

Our favorite Iris Apfel quote: “When you don’t dress like everybody else, you don’t have to think like everybody else.”

Read Iris Apfel's obituary in The New York Times.

[dd20century]

Charles Harrison: Better Living Through Superior Design

Editor’s Note: This post originally ran on February 25, 2019.

“My best efforts resulted in products that did their job as expected – you look at it, right away guess what it is supposed to do, and that’s exactly what it does.” —Charles Harrison

Here at Design and Desire in the Twentieth Century, the purpose of our blog is to highlight the designers, architects, photographers, and artists of the past century whose talents have impacted the world of the Twenty-first Century. Many of the artists we’ve featured here, while not famous themselves, designed remarkable iconic items or buildings. What about the talented designer whose output may not be remarkable in and of itself, but whose body of work has influenced everyday life so greatly that we have taken his or her achievements for granted? Charles Harrison is undoubtedly one of those designers. 

“Chuck” Harrison‘s Early Years

Charles “Chuck” Harrison, product designer and the first African-American executive at retailer Sears, Roebuck and Company, was born in Lousiana in 1931. During his childhood, Harrison suffered from dyslexia, and his design career would be influenced by a desire to produce user-friendly intuitive products that could help users. Harrison’s father, Charles Alfred Harrison Sr. (1) was a professor of industrial arts. Harrison junior would akso become a design professor later in life. Both Harrison’s father and grandfather were master carpenters and “Harrison credits his interest and ability in design to their influence.” (2) 

Charles Harrison, GAF ViewMaster for Robert Podall Associates (1958). Image source.

Harrison’s Professional Successes Despite His Facing Discrimination

The 1950s in the United States was a challenging period for African-American professionals seeking employment in their chosen fields; Charles Harrison was no exception. In a 2006 interview with The Washington Post, Harrison said, "It was very tough, … I uncovered every rock in Chicago. People wanted to help me. I stumbled around.“(4) Harrison’s former professor from SAIC, Henry P. Glass gave Harrison his first design job. (2) Like many designers unable to find full-time employment, Harrison picked up free-lance jobs; some were for Sears, Roebuck and Company, his future employer.

In 1958 Harrison joined the staff of Robert Podall Associates. It was there Harrison redesigned the View-master toy giving it the look and feel that children of the 1960s and 1970s came to love. (5)

Harrison’s Career at Sears, Roebuck and Company

Charles Harrison, Electric Portable Hand Mixer for Sears (1969). Image source.

Charles Harrison, Plastic Trash Bin (ca. 1965) for Sears. Image source.

Charles Harrison’s Later Years

In 1993 Sears underwent a corporate restructure and eliminated its “entire design department,”(1); Harrison was the last designer to leave. During his retirement, Harrison taught design at “The University of Illinois at Chicago, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and at Columbia College Chicago.” (2)

Harrison published his biography in 2006, A Life’s Design: The Life and Work of Industrial Designer Charles Harrison and earned the Smithsonian National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2008. (4,5)

Harrison died on November 29, 2018. His design sketches can be viewed in the University of Illinois’ digital design collections. (2)

References

Hales, L., (11 October 2006). Chuck Harrison, Adding Dimension to Design. The Washington Post Online. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/10/AR2006101001459.html?noredirect=on

Wkikpedia (2018). Charles “Chuck” Harrison. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_%22Chuck%22_Harrison

Gibson, E., (10 December 2018). Pioneering African-American Designer Charles Harrison Dies aged 87. Dezeen.com.  https://www.dezeen.com/2018/12/10/charles-harrison-designer-obituary/

Harriot, M., (5 December 2018). Charles ‘Chuck’ Harrison, the Most Important Person You Never Heard Of, Dead at 87. The Root. https://www.theroot.com/charles-chuck-harrison-the-most-important-person-you-n-1830891199

Gambino, M., (January 2009). Intelligent Designer, Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/intelligent-designer-99915628/

[dd20century]

Thought Built: the Imperial Hotel at 100

In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the opening of architect Frank Lloyd Wright's largest project in Japan, the Martin House Complex in Buffalo, NY is holding an exhibition, "Thought-Built: The Imperial Hotel." This exhibition features architectural elements, including tiles and a stained glass panel, rescued from the hotel's demolition in 1967. "

"Thought-Built: The Imperial Hotel" is on now and runs through May 12, 2024. For details and tickets visit the Martin House Complex website.

Read our recent post on Frank Lloyd Wright, Arata Endo, and the Imperial Hotel.

Frank Lloyd Wright with Arata Endo, Imperial Hotel (1923). Image source.

[dd20century]

Henry Dreyfuss: Groundbreaking UI Designer Part Two

This is the second in a two-part series on designer Henry Dreyfuss. Read part one.

World War II and a Move to California

Henry Dreyfuss, Raymond Loewy, and Walter Dorwin Teague designed a series of strategy rooms for the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff at the beginning of World War II. Dreyfuss’s contribution was “four 13-foot rotating globes, one each for Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill, and the Joint Chiefs” (1).

In February 1944, when The Society of Industrial Designers (SID) was founded Walter Dorwin Teague was its first president, and Dreyfuss served as the organization’s first vice-president. After the War, Dreyfuss moved his family to Pasadena, California, and “opened a second office near his home” (2). In 1946, William F. H. Purcell and Robert Hose became partners in the firm. (1)

Henry Dreyfuss, SS Constitution for American Export Lines (1950). Image source.

In the early 1950s, Dreyfuss designed two steamships, SS Independence and SS Constitution for American Export Lines. (3) For these ships, he developed aluminum deck chairs to replace the heavier wooden deck chairs. (5) Although his firm had done consulting work for Honeywell since the late 1930s, it wasn’t until 1953, Dreyfuss designed the most important product for that firm, the round Honeywell thermostat, “which allowed it to fit cleanly on a wall whether it was askew or not, unlike rectangular ones which frequently appeared crooked”(4).

Henry Dreyfuss, Thermostat for Honeywell (1953). Image source.

During this time Dreyfuss continued working with Bell Laboratories. “In 1949 Dreyfuss updated Bell’s Model 300 telephone with the model 500, which would become the first phone to be offered in a color other than black beginning in 1954. It would ultimately go on to be the most popular phone ever made”(4). An updated version of the wall telephone and the Princess phone were introduced during this decade.

Henry Dreyfuss, Bell Laboratories Model 500 telephone (1949). Image source.

The 1950s also saw Dreyfuss publish his seminal design book, Designing for People. “The book illustrated his ethical and aesthetic principles, [and] included design case studies, many anecdotes” (5), along with anthropometric charts. A second book dealing with ergonomics, The Measure of Man, was published in 1960. (1)

Dreyfuss’s Late Career

During the 1960s Henry Dreyfuss Associates clients included American Safety Razor Company and Polaroid Land Company, which introduced his design for the model 100 camera in 1963. Also during this time, his firm was responsible for the rebranding of American Airlines and continued to collaborate with its long-time client Deere & Company designing four new tractor models during the decade. (3)

Image source.

In 1965 several professional design organizations, including The Society of Industrial Designers, merged to form the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA). Dreyfuss was its first president. (7)

Henry Dreyfuss retired from the design firm that bore his name in 1969, but remained working “with top management of several clients to analyze and improve their contact with customers”(3). In 1972 Dreyfuss, along with his wife Doris, worked on Symbol Sourcebook: An Authoritative Guide to International Graphic Symbols, a reference guide “of over 20,000 symbols [that] continues to provide a standard for industrial designers around the world”(4).

Henry Dreyfuss, Cover pages for Symbol Sourcebook: An Authoritative Guide to International Graphic Symbols, McGraw Hil Publishers (1972). Image source.

The Tragic Deaths of Henry and Doris Dreyfuss

In 1972 Henry and Doris Dreyfuss had been happily married for 42 years, but Doris was suffering from terminal cancer. At one point the pain became too much for Doris to bear.  On October 5 of that year, the Dreyfusses went into the garage of their home at “500 Columbia Street in South Pasadena, California”(3), got into their car, and turned on the engine. “Within a few minutes they both died. They had lived their life together and ended it together”(7). “Authorities reported the cause of death as carbon monoxide poisoning”(3). The couple was survived by their son and two daughters.

Henry Dreyfuss Associates

The firm that Henry Dreyfuss founded in 1929, continued as Henry Dreyfuss Associates for over four decades after his death”(4). “After Dreyfuss’s retirement, Donald M. Genaro served as president of the company until 1994. In the 1970s, Henry Dreyfuss Associates was responsible for designing the “interiors of nuclear-powered Trident missile submarines”(3). In the next decade, the company “added a major new client in Falcon Jet Company”(3), and was averaging about 50 new products a year. (2)

When Genaro stepped down as president in 1994, a team of several partners took control of the firm. During the 1990s a new utility vehicle was designed for long-time client John Deere, and the company designed the interiors of a line of business jets for the Astra Jet company. Projects for AT&T in 1992 included a notebook computer and a smartphone “which featured an onscreen keyboard”(2).

Henry Dreyfuss Associates relocated to Ann Arbor, Michigan in 2004. (3)

The Legacy of Henry Dreyfuss

In 1963, “Henry Dreyfuss became a trustee of Caltech,… though he had been a faculty member of the engineering division for many years, and had annually lectured on industrial design to students in Business Economics”(5).

In 1996 a major retrospective of the work of Henry Dreyfuss appeared at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York, the same year a book on his work was published. The Industrial Designers Society of America posthumously awarded Dreyfuss the Individual Achievement Award in 2004. (2) The Henry Dreyfuss Archives are located in the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

A second retrospective of Dreyfuss’s work was held in 2020 at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa. Currently the Cooper-Hewitt celebrates the 50th anniversary of Symbol Sourcebook: An Authoritative Guide to International Graphic Symbols with a special exhibition that runs through Spring 2024.

Henry Dreyfuss’s genius spans product design, graphic design, user interface design, as well as business and marketing. His greatest contribution to design is emphasizing the importance of the utility and usability of a product as well as its style.

References

Industrial Designers Society of America, (2023). Henry Dreyfuss, FIDSA. https://www.idsa.org/profile/henry-dreyfuss/

Uhle, F. (n.d.). Henry Dreyfuss Associates, LLC. https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/henry-dreyfuss-associates-llc

Wikipedia, (24 February, 2023). Henry Dreyfuss. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Dreyfuss

Futurama, of the city of, designed by Norman Bel Geddes for the General Motors Exhibit at the New York World's Fair in 1939. New York, 1939. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2012645722/.

Dreyfuss, J. (22 October, 1972). Henry and Doris Dreyfuss. https://calteches.library.caltech.edu/2944/1/dreyfuss.pdf

Industrial Designers Society of America, (2023).  Our Story. https://www.idsa.org/about-idsa/our-story/

Jones, R. A., (7 May, 1997). Our Dreyfuss Affair. La Times Website. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-05-07-me-56286-story.html

[dd20century]

Henry Dreyfuss: Groundbreaking UI Designer Part One

“When the point of contact between the product and people becomes a point of friction, then the industrial designer has failed.” – Henry Dreyfuss

To say that Henry Dreyfuss was one of the most influential designers of the Twentieth Century may sound like an overstatement until one considers his portfolio of iconic designs. Dreyfuss and his firm were responsible for products that were ubiquitous during the past century, including the Model 500 telephone and Honeywell’s circular thermostat. Both products were found in many American homes until digital products replaced them. Dreyfuss designs ranged from clocks and vacuum cleaners to locomotives and steamships. As if this is not impressive, Dreyfuss is considered a pioneer in user experience design. (1)

Henry Dreyfuss (c. 1940). Photographer unknown. Image source.

Henry Dreyfuss as a Young Man

Henry Dreyfuss was born in Brooklyn on March 2, 1904. Not much is known of his early life, but his family had a theatrical supply business which may have connected young Henry with one of his earliest jobs, “designing sets for stage presentations at a Broadway motion-picture theatre”(2).  Dreyfuss later studied as an apprentice with Norman bel Geddes. After leaving bel Geddes, Dreyfuss continued on with theatrical design, producing “250 stage sets for a number of theatres before 1928”(2). during this time received special recognition for “the cellblock set for The Last Mile, a 1930 production starring Spencer Tracy. (3)

Dreyfuss was offered a job on the design staff of the Macy Company, but turned it down because, in 1929, at the age of 25, Dreyfuss opened his own design firm. That same year he won a telephone design contest held by Bell Laboratories and “began work in 1930 in collaboration with Bell staff”(2) to produce the Model 300 telephone; “molded in black phenolic plastic”(2) the phone had a transmitter and receiver housed together in the same handset. (2)

As Dreyfuss’s business grew, he recognized the need for a business manager. Doris Marks, “the daughter of the former borough president of Manhattan”(2) was recommended by one of Dreyfuss’s old schoolmates. Dreyfuss hired her, and the two hit it off immediately. They later married and had three children: a son and two daughters. (4) Doris remained involved in the design business and assisted Henry in publishing several books. She also served on the boards of several philanthropic organizations. (6)

Design Breakthroughs in the 1930s

Remarkably The Great Depression in the 1930s was a period of great productivity and success for Dreyfuss. In 1933, he designed a “flat top” refrigerator for General Electric that hid the “previously exposed refrigeration unit by placing it beneath the cabinet”(2). In 1935 Dreyfuss designed an alarm clock for Westclox, and four years later he designed their iconic Big Ben alarm clock. (2)

The following year he developed “Model 150 upright vacuum cleaner with the first plastic hood in Bakelite”(2) for the Hoover company. In the same year he was commissioned to design products for the American Thermos Bottle Company. (2)

Henry Dreyfuss, Big Ben alarm clock for Westclox (1939). Image source.

Henry Dreyfuss introduced one of his most impressive works “his design of a Mercury locomotive [which] featured cutout holes in the ‘white-walled’ driver wheels, lit by concealed spotlights at night”(2). The train represented the epitome of streamlined Art Deco design. New York Central introduced the Mercury train in 1938 “for its Twentieth Century Limited New-York-Chicago run”(2).

In 1937 Elmer McCormick an engineer with the Deere & Company tractor company, travelled to New York City from his company’s headquarters in Iowa for design advice from Dreyfuss. This meeting resulted in making Dreyfuss one of his most important and lucrative clients. “In 1938 Dreyfuss's John Deere Model A tractor was introduced”(2), and Dreyfuss would eventually redesign Deere’s entire line. (3)

Henry Dreyfuss, New York Central Mercury Train (1936). Image source.

“Dreyfuss’s approach to creating products was based on a logical functionality that he would call ‘human factor’ (or ergonomic) design”(3). He preferred combining form and function rather than follow showy design trends, (3) an approach that would influence designers for decades to come. “Dreyfuss was much more than a stylist; he applied common sense and a scientific approach to design problems”(4). This resulted in developing products that were not only elegant, but safer and featured ease of use and maintenance. (4)

For the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City, Dreyfuss “designed the Democracity model in the Perisphere, representing an American city and its surrounding suburbs of the year 2039” (2). He also designed the AT&T Pavilion at the Fair. (2,3) Dreyfuss’s mentor, Norman bel Geddes’s contribution to the World’s Fair was the iconic Futurama city for General Motors. (5)

Read part two of "Henry Dreyfuss: Groundbreaking UI Designer".

References

Curtis, M. , (11 November, 2020). The original UX designer: Henry Dreyfuss (1904–1972). https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/the-original-ux-designers-henry-dreyfuss-1904-1972-8444a1769d11

Industrial Designers Society of America, (2023). Henry Dreyfuss, FIDSA. https://www.idsa.org/profile/henry-dreyfuss

Uhle, F. (n.d.). Henry Dreyfuss Associates, LLC. https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/henry-dreyfuss-associates-llc

Wikipedia, (24 February, 2023). Henry Dreyfuss. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Dreyfuss

Futurama, of the city of, designed by Norman Bel Geddes for the General Motors Exhibit at the New York World's Fair in 1939. New York, 1939. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2012645722/.

Dreyfuss, J. (22 October, 1972). Henry and Doris Dreyfuss. https://calteches.library.caltech.edu/2944/1/dreyfuss.pdf

[dd20century]

Chanel Fashion Manifesto at V&A

"Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto" is currently on exhibit at the V&A South Kensington through February 25, 2023. It is the first retrospective of French designer Gabrielle "Coco" Channel's work held in the UK. According to the museum's website, the show highlights "the establishment of the House of CHANEL and the evolution of her iconic design style which continues to influence the way women dress today."

Details on the exhibition "Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto."

Related features on the V&A website.

Read about the life and work of Gabrielle "Coco" Channel.

Gabrielle Chanel, Suit (1964). © CHANEL / Photo: Nicholas Alan Cope

[dd20century]

Santa Claus and Coca-Cola in the Twentieth Century

Editor’s Note: This article was first published on Design and Desire in the Twentieth Century on December 22, 2010. 

Left: From New York Historical Society Alexander Anderson (1775-1870), St. Nicholas. Dec. 6th. A.D. 343. Printed for the New-York Historical Society, New York: 1810. Reprinted by Alexander Anderson, 1864. Image source.

“It Happened Here: The Invention of Santa Claus,” the 2010 exhibit at the New York Historical Society in New York City, highlighted the creation of the American vision of Santa Claus.  “Clement Clarke Moore…penned a whimsical poem about St. Nicholas” (2), which is retold each holiday season as “A Visit from St. Nicholas.” Moore described the jolly old soul as “dress’d all in fur, from his head to his foot” (3) and continued:

Thomas Nast “Merry Christmas.” January 4, 1879. Image source.

Haddon Sundblom (circa. 1952). Santa Claus and his Coca-cola. Image source.

So where does the connection between Santa and Coca-Cola come in? According to the Coca-Cola Company Web site, at the beginning of the Twentieth Century, people tended to think of Coca-Cola as a warm weather drink. In order to change the product’s image, a campaign was launched to let everyone know “that Coca-Cola was a great choice in any month” (4). Fred Mizen was the first illustrator to depict jolly old St. Nick for Coca-Cola in 1930, but in 1931 the firm “commissioned Michigan-born illustrator Haddon Sundblom to develop advertising images using Santa Claus”(4). Using Moore’s poem as inspiration “For the next 33 years, Sundblom painted portraits of Santa that helped to create the modern image of Santa“ (4).

Who was Haddon Sundblom?

Haddon Sundblom. Playboy Cover, December 1972. Image source.

Design & Desire would like to thank all its readers for their support and wish you all a joyous holiday season with best wishes for the coming year.

References

Who is St. Nicholas? http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=38

It Happened Here: The Invention of Santa Claus. New York Historical Society. https://www.nyhistory.org/web/default.php?section=exhibits_collections&page=exhibit_detail&id=6101893

Variations 1823-1844, Troy Sentinel, Tuesday, December 23, 1823. http://iment.com/maida//familytree/henry/xmas/poemvariants/troysentinel1823.htm

Coke Lore: Coca-Cola® and Santa Claus. http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/heritage/cokelore_santa.html

HaddonSundblom. http://www.mutoworld.com/Sundblom.htm

Quaker Oats: Reference. http://www.thefullwiki.org/Quaker_Oats

Haddon Sundblom. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haddon_Sundblom

For Further Reading

Haskell, R.B. (2006). The True Story of Saint Nicholas. Alan C. Hood & Co.

Moore, C. C. (1912). Twas the Night Before Christmas: A Visit from St. Nicholas. New York: Houghton Mifflin

Santa Claus Picture. (2010). Holiday Decorations. http://www.holidaydecorations.com/Santa-Claus-Picture.html

Sundblom, H.  Fahs Charles, B.  &  Taylor, J. R. (1997).  Dream of Santa: Haddon Sundblom’s Advertising Paintings for Christmas, 1931–1964. Random House.

[dd20century]

Dagobert Peche: Master of Ornament from the Arts and Crafts Movement to Art Deco

“Dagobert Peche was the greatest ornamental genius Austria has produced since the Baroque.” - Josef Hoffmann

Dagobert Peche was one of the most influential designers of the Wiener Werkstätte. (1) His work falls under the Arts and Crafts Movement and was extremely influential to the burgeoning Art Deco style. A very versatile designer, “Peche has been credited with ushering in a new era for the decorative arts” (2). “Peche designed across numerous media including wallpaper, textiles, furniture, glass, jewelry, toys, and metalwork” (1) and is also renown for his graphic designs. (1)

Dagobert Peche was “born April 3, 1887 in Lungau, Austria” (2). As a boy he aspired to become a painter, but his older brother was a painter so young Dagobert decided to become an architect. (3) Peche began his studies in engineering and architecture at “Technische Hochschule (Technical College) in Vienna” (4) in 1906. He studied under Max von Ferstel, Karl König, and Leopold Simony. (2) Two years later Peche left Technische Hochschule to enroll in “Akademie der bildenden Künste in Vienna (Academy of Fine Arts), where the architect Friedrich Ohmann was his main influence” (2).

In 1910 Peche journeyed to Great Britain where he was influenced by the art and design he saw there; Aubrey Beardsley’s work may have had a profound influence on the young designer.  In 1911 Peche graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts and also married his love Petronella (Nelly) Daberkow whom he had met the previous year. (2)

Dagobert Peche, Brooch (C. 1917) Image source.

Another momentous encounter in Peche’s life happened when he met architect and designer Josef Hoffmann at a celebration held in honor of architect Otto Wagner’s 70th  birthday. (3) Hoffmann began buying Peche’s textile and wallpaper designs for the Wiener Werkstätte. During this time Peche brached out in other areas of design “contributing designs for furniture, glass, jewelry, and toys” (2). His graphic designs for “postcards…invitation cards, bookplates, and posters” were popular as well. Many of his designs featured “a touch of the [Baroque and] Rococo style, and carry a playful erotic charge. Peche also designed woodcuts, which were included in the fashion portfolio Mode Wien 1914/15” (2).

Peche officially joined Wiener Werkstätte in 1915, “eventually becoming co-director between 1917 and 1923” (4). He also served as “Zurich branch of the Wiener Werkstätte until 1919” (1). “Peche “was drafted to serve in the war in 1916, but was released in 1917 after suffering from appendicitis” (2).

Dagobert Peche, Poster for Wiener Werkstätte fashions (1919) Image source.

During World War I, material shortages forced Peche to experiment with “simple materials like tole and cardboard” (4). A design strategy that would become more common during and after the Second World War for designers like Jean Prouvé and Jens Risom.

Peche did not design exclusively for Wiener Werkstätte. He also developed “textiles and carpets for Johann Backhausen, & Söhne, ceramics for Vereinigte Wiener & Gmundner Keramik, … and wallpaper for Max Schmidt and Flammersheim & Steinmann” (1).

Dagobert Peche, Silver Bird-shaped Candy Box (1920). Image source.

Sadly, Peche’s brilliant career was cut short when he died of cancer in Vienna on April 16, 1923 at the age of 35. (2) While Peche’s work slightly pre-dates the Art-Deco period his geometrically stylized designs were a major influence on designers like René Lalique, Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann, and Jean Dunand.

Dagobert Peche, Large Leaves design for fabric (c. 1920). Image source.

[dd20century]

Happy Thanksgiving!

Editor's Note: This post originally ran on November 24, 2010.

With help from Peanuts’ creator Charles M. Schulz, Design and Desire would like to wish its readers in the United States a very safe and Happy Thanksgiving holiday.

Charles M. Schulz (1922-2000). Charlie Brown, Snoopy & Woodstock prepare to celebrate the holiday. Image source.

[dd20century]

Interview with Architect Peter Gluck

Peter Gluck, House in the Mountains (2014), Rocky Mountains. Image source.

Chances are you haven't heard of architect Peter Gluck, but he's been designing buildings for six decades. In a recent interview with Architects + Artisans, Mr. Gluck talked about using cost-saving measures like building off-site and building below the grade in order to save on climate control costs. He also prefers "to incorporate a building’s surrounding context into its design," as seen in his design "House in the Mountains."

Read the interview on Architects + Artisans.

Visit Peter Gluck's firm's website.

[dd20century]

Art Deco: Commercializing the Avant-Garde

Poster House in New York City is currently running an exhibition of advertising posters dating from the 1925 Paris Exhibition to the start of World War II. "Art Deco: Commercializing the Avant-Garde" features posters designed by A.M. Cassandre, Charles Loupot, Marcello Nizzoli, Jean Dupas, Herbert Matter, Jean Carlu, Joseph Binder, and others. The show runs through February 25, 2024. For details visit Poster House's website.

Paul Colin, Poster for Leroy Optician (1938). Image source.

[dd20century]

City of Dallas, Will You Save Your Frank Lloyd Wright-Designed Theatre or Not?

Recently Mark Lamster, architecture critic for the Dallas Morning News wrote an article posted to the newspaper's website regarding the fate of Frank Lloyd Wright's 1959 Kalita Humphreys Theatre in Dallas, Texas. Lamster's report highlights maddeningly frustrating events that occur when municipal government gets involved in architectural restoration.

According Lamster, there have been no efforts to preserve the decaying the Kalita Humphreys Theatre in over a decade. The city hired "architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro and a team of preservation and theater consultants" to develop a $300 million plan for the Dallas Theater Center that would include restoring the Humphreys Theatre and building four additional structures. The plan was rejected not only by the City Council, but also by neighbors and supporters of the park into which the project would abut.

The Dallas Theater Center seems willing to scale back the project, but apparently, now the city isn't interested, so the scaled-back plan is currently been shelved as well. Lamster stated in his story, "the [Dallas Office of Arts and Culture] OAC has budgeted $7.63 million for repairs from its 2024 bond request" to the theater. Most of which would go to replace the aging HVAC system. Meanwhile, the theatre continues on its downward to deteriorate.

Read Mark Lamster's entire article on the Dallas Morning News website.

Frank Lloyd Wright, Kalita Humphreys Theatre (1959), Dallas, Texas. Photo © Massachusetts Institute of Technology, photograph by G. E. Kidder Smith. Image source.

[dd20century]

ParaSITES: They're Not Quite What You Think They Are

When you hear the word "parasite" one usually conjures up thoughts of organisms feeding off other organisms, like tapeworms. For artist Michel Rakowitz a ParaSITES was an ingenious solution to the global homeless crisis.

Recently the Hidden Architecture blog described Rakowitz's inflatable structures as "custom-built inflatable structures designed for homeless people that attach to the exterior outtake vents of a building’s Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system. The warm air leaving the building simultaneously inflates and heats the double membrane structure."

Michael Rakowitz, ParaSITE (1989), New York City. Image source.

Rakowitz's ParaSITE housing was included in a 2005 exhibition, "Safe: Design Takes on Risk" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Read about more of Michael Rakowitz's ParaSITE housing on Hidden Architecture.

Learn more about Michael Rakowitz's ParaSITE housing on the MOMA website.

[dd20century]

Jeanne Lanvin: Design, Mother Love and the Longest Running Fashion House in the World

“I act on impulse and believe in instinct. My dresses are not premeditated. I am carried away by feeling, and technical knowledge helps me make it a reality.” –Jeanne Lanvin

The House of Lanvin in Paris, France is the oldest continuously running fashion house in the world. Founded in 1889 by designer Jeanne Lanvin, the House of Lanvin was the first to create a line of haute couture children’s clothing, men’s clothing, and a fragrance that could be worn by either women or men. Jeanne Lanvin was a remarkable fashion designer and businesswoman, hard-working, “reserved, and meticulous”(1). She preferred the company of her daughter to those of Parisian elites and rarely attended society events.

Mademoiselle Jeanne Lanvin Begins her Career Fashion designer Jeanne-Marie Lanvin was born in Paris, France on New Year’s Day 1867. (1) She was the oldest of eleven children in a family of modest means. Her father, Bernard-Constant Lanvin, was a “struggling journalist”(2). Like most young girls of her day, she began working at age thirteen to help support the family; her first job was delivering hats “for a milliner on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré”(1). Her creativity and drive got her noticed. A few years later she became an apprentice for The House of Felix. (2) Hats designed by “Mademoiselle Jeanne” became highly sought after.

The House of Lanvin is Established At age twenty-two, with her apprenticeship over, Mademoiselle Jeanne “opened her first hat shop in 1889 on the upper level of a store located at 16 Rue Boissy d’Anglas”(3). The enterprise was so successful that four years later Lanvin established her own fashion house in a building she leased “on the prestigious Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré”(3). Her designs, however, “never be considered cutting edge. She was about clothes that were pretty rather than fashionable, but she was successful because [her clothes] gave women confidence”(4). 

Valentine Gross, Illustration of Rainwear by Jeanne Lavin (1915). Image source.

The Arrival of Baby Marguerite “In 1895, Lanvin married Count Emilio di Pietro, an Italian nobleman. Two years later she gave birth to a daughter, Marguerite (also known as Marie-Blanche)”(5). Baby Marguerite became Lanvin’s whole world. “A tightly-bound relationship formed between Jeanne and her daughter. Marguerite became her muse”(3). Marguerite spent much of her time at her mother’s side in the shop. (1) It was for Marguerite that Jeanne began designing dresses using the most “luxurious fabrics to create the wardrobe of every little girl’s dreams”(3). Little Marguerite’s exquisite clothes got noticed by her friends’ mothers many of whom “became customers of the Lanvin fashion house”(3). In 1908 Lanvin dedicated a whole section of her store to children’s clothing, one of the few designers of her status at the time to design for children. Mothers and daughters came together to the House of Lanvin to buy their outfits. (3)

Pierre Brissaud, Illustration of Jeanne Lanvin Mother and Daughter Dresses, (1922). Image source.

Sadly, Jeanne Lanvin’s relationship with Marguerite’s father was not a happy one. The couple divorced in 1903. In 1907 Lanvin would remarry newspaper journalist and later the French consul Xavier Melet. (5) Jeanne Lavin led a quiet personal life, “refusing to participate in most social events, the designer evolved within restricted and intimate circles of artists, writers, and musicians” (1). When she did go out into society, she was there primarily to observe the current Parisian fashion trends.

Jeanne Lavin Becomes a Force in Parisian Fashion 1909 was a pivotal year for Mademoiselle Lanvin. For the first time orders for clothing outnumbered hat orders. Lanvin joined the Syndicat de la Couture, which marked her formal status as a couturière (5), and she officially changed her business status from milliner to designer (3). Like her contemporary Paul Poiret, Lanvin was not satisfied with being one of Paris’s top designers, she desired international success. In 1915, her fashions were featured at the San Francisco International Exposition, and after the World War the House of Lanvin participated in the 1925 Paris International Exhibition of Decorative Arts where the Art Deco style emerged. (3)

While Lavin’s contemporaries like Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel were doing away with overly decorated fashions, Lavin’s designs incorporated “Ribbons, embroideries, pearls, and precious details” (1) along with bold colors. The embellishments, however, were always elegant and never took away from the exquisite structure of her clothes. (1) Her most important contribution to fashion came in the 1920s Robe de Style, “a soft, erotic garment, mainly loose to the body and frequently fringed or incorporating narrow scarves to accentuate femininity” (4). Unlike Coco Chanel’s approach to fashion for the modern woman, Jeanne Lavin’s fashions retained a very romantic feel. In the 1930s her “Robe de Style was gradually superseded by a new style, more formal and statuesque”(4), however, the new style retained the romance of the previous era.

Jeanne Lavin, Robe de Style, (1925). Image source.

The Lanvin Blue Jeanne Lanvin had a passion for color and art. She was an avid art collector, who owned works by “Renoir, Degas, Fantin-Latour, Fragonard, and many others…[and] was highly influenced by the use of light in Impressionist paintings”(1). She was also very interested in ancient Egyptian, Medieval, and Renaissance art. (4). In 1923 Lavin opened “a dye factory in Nanterre” (5) and later “created a soft but vibrant blue, guaranteed to flatter most skin and hair types”(4) inspired from colors she found in the artworks she so admired. The color was originally called Fra Angelico blue and became such a signature color for the House of Lanvin that it is now referred to as Lanvin Blue. (1)

Lavin’s Fragrances So far we’ve discussed Jeanne Lavin’s fashion designs, but what House of Lanvin is best known for are its fragrances. During the 1920s designers “Coco” Chanel and Paul Poiret had success developing and marketing fragrances, so Lanvin “took the plunge into perfume”(2). Working with “the mysterious Russian emigree, Madame Zed” (2) Lavin developed several fragrances, but none were successful, until 1926 when the pair created “My Sin.” (2,4)

Jeanne Lavin established a “laboratory near her workshop in Nanterre”(2), and hired perfumer André Fraysse to run it. “In collaboration with fellow perfumer, Paul Vacher, Fraysse gave Lanvin Arpege,” Lavin’s most successful and well-known fragrance, which is still sold around the world today. (4) Lanvin commissioned architect Armand Albert Rateau to design the black glass bottle for the perfume, and illustrator Paul Iribe designed the Mother and Daughter motif that decorates the bottle. This motif later became the logo for the House of Lanvin. (4)

Armand Albert Rateau, Several Versions of the Lanvin Arpege Perfume Bottle (c. 1927). Image source.

Marketing Additional Lines In addition to fragrances, Lanvin launched lines of interior decor and menswear. In 1920 Lanvin met the designer and architect Armand-Albert Rateau at an event thrown by Paul Poiret. She was so impressed with Rateau that they collaborated “to create a pavilion dedicated to the art of living” (3) in Lavin’s main rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré store (3) which offered “furniture, rugs, curtains, stained glass, wallpaper”(3). Rateau also designed interiors for Lanvin’s apartment. In 1923 the pair decorated The Théâtre Daunou in Paris. (3) “In 1926, Lanvin became the first Parisian designer to launch a made-to-measure clothing line for men….[House of Lanvin] was the only place in Paris that offered both Men’s and Women’s collections”(3).

Jeanne Lanvin’s Legacy In 1926 the French government awarded Jeanne Lanvin with the Chevalier de l'Ordre de la Légion d'Honneur. During the 1930s, Lanvin was so honored with “an order for party dresses from Queen Elizabeth, for the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret [that she] sent with them a doll dressed identically”(4).

Clémentine-Hélène Dufau, Portrait of Jeanne Lavin, (1925). Image source.

While Jeanne Lanvin’s fashions may not have been as groundbreaking as some of her contemporaries, she excelled as a businesswoman and was one of the pioneers in extending haute couture into new markets, a trend that would continue later into the Twentieth Century with designers like Yves Saint Laurent and Georgio Armani. Many of Lanvin’s fragrances continue to be marketed today; she was very aware that the packaging the fragrance comes in must be as beautiful and unique as the perfume itself.

Jeanne Lanvin died on July 6, 1946, at the age of 79. The fashion house that Lanvin established over a century ago continues to operate today. The daughter who once served as Lanvin’s muse and inspiration, “Marie-Blanche became president of the company and continued to design collections until 1950” (3). Maryll Lanvin, the wife of Jeanne Lanvin’s nephew served as the company’s artistic director during the 1980s. Lanvin’s most recent artistic director Bruno Sialelli served from 2019 until April 2023. (3) Jeanne Lanvin’s “original office is preserved in [the] corporate offices at 16 Rue Boissy d’Anglas in Paris” (5).

Edward Steichen, Jeanne Lavin's Bow-backed Evening Dress, (1927). Image source.

References

Jeanne Lavin SA, (2022). Jeanne Lavin. https://us.lanvin.com/pages/jeanne-lanvin

Goutell, P. (2021). Jeanne Lavin (1867-1946). http://www.perfumeprojects.com/museum/marketers/Lanvin.php

Jeanne Lavin SA, (2022). History of House Lanvin. https://www.lanvin.com/ca/history

McDowell, C., (30 August 2015). Jeanne Lavin (1867-1946). https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/news-analysis/jeanne-lanvin-1867-1946/

Wikipedia, (5 May 2023). Jeanne Lavin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Lanvin