1922 Madeleine Vionnet costume design lithograph for Gazette du Bon Ton, L'Essayage a Paris (Croydon-Bourget)

Frame: 15 3/4" x 18"
Lithograph: 6 3/4" x 9"

(source: collection.maas.museum) This fashion plate was created for Madeleine Vionnet (1876-1975), the French couturier renowned for her experiments with fabric cut on the bias (across the straight grain of the fabric) which made the fabric cling to the body, revealing its curves and setting up a sensual fluidity when in motion. Vionnet, a legend of French haute couture, reached the pinnacle of her career as a French dressmaker in the 1930s and is still influential today. Many of her designs are considered masterpieces.

In this fashion plate for Vionnet by Thayaht (Ernesto Michaelles b. Florence 1893-1959 of Ango-Swiss parentage), Vionnet's style is applied to a travel outfit. The woman depicted in the plate confidently steps, unaccompanied, off the tarmac to board a plane, encapsulating the free spirit and new femininity associated with 1920s modernity. The photograph that was apparently used by the illustrator to create 'LEssayage a Paris', can be found in the collection of the Musee de la Mode et du Textile, Paris.

It is thought that Vionnet may have met Thayaht in Rome during WWI. Thayaht, an artist who was close to the Futurists, went on to visualise the spirit of Vionnet through a memorable logo design and the many Vionnet drawings that were published in the prestigious Gazette du Bon Ton fashion journal during the 1920s.

Good condition overall