Lovin' Lanvin

Jeanne-Marie Lanvin was born in Paris January 1867. She was the oldest of 11 children. At the age of 16 she was apprentice milliner at Madame Felix in Paris. She then became a trained at Talbot before becoming a milliner in rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore in 1889.


It was in 1889 when she started her milliner store in Paris. ( By the way, a milliner is a professional dressmaker and refers to a type of store that sells dresses)

By 1914 she started her Couturier house. Lanvin is the oldest Parisian fashion house there is.


She married Henri Georges di Pietro and had a daughter who was an opera singer who would become the director of the Lanvin fashion house.


Jeanne became popular because of her children's clothing and was receiving orders from wealth families for their daughters. Soon enough she began to dress their mothers as well. She had a boutique on the 5th avenue of Paris and joined the Syndicat de la Couture which solidified her status as a couturier.


Lanvin even had a dye factory, shops devoted to home decor, menswear, furs, lingerie, and perfumes, the most successful. Her signature fragrance was the Arpege inspired by the sounds of her daughter practicing on the piano. All her shops and her home was designed by Albert Armand Rateau who was also the manager of Lanvin-Sport.


Jeanne died in 1946 and was succeed by her daughter Marie Blanche. Jeanne died as one of the most influential designers of the 1920's and 30's because of her intricate details in trimmings, embroideries, and beaded decorations; all of which were her trademarks. Her favorite shade was the forget-me-not flower color.



Today the creative director of Lanvin is Alber Elbaz ( who deserves his own blog entry, and will get it very soon.)


What is most important that we get from Jeanne Lanvin is her signature in making elaborate and detailed clothing that could never be copied. Her clothing is still a staple of elegance and status as it was when she began over 100 years ago. Thought today the company is not run by member of Lanvin's family and has even been acquired by a Taiwanese media baroness group led by Shaw-Lan Wang, Jeanne;s touch is never lost.



Now I want to show you what Lanvin came from and what it has evolved into. This is one of those lines that I could NEVER afford now , but I dream about all the time. You can tell that it was made by people who know what clothes should look like and how to sew together royalty, grace, and elegance and sell it in a perfect package.




I also know that Lanvin is not a household name like Gucci, Prada, Chanel, or Versace, but I think that says something about the brand. It is not out there for a show, I mean have you ever seen anyone which a logo'd Lanvin purse/hat/shoes or whatever? No, and that's the point. Exclusivity is in, and it never went out!






btw.. her logo is actually inspired by her daughter.



and Ill give you a little men's



Citations: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,