Robert Piguet | |
|---|---|
 Robert Piguet | |
| Born | 1898 Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland |
| Died | 1953 (aged 54–55) Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Nationality | French |
| Label | Robert Piguet |
Robert Piguet (1898 – 1953) was aSwiss-born,Paris-basedfashion designer who is mainly remembered for trainingChristian Dior andHubert de Givenchy.[1] The Piguet fashion house ran from 1933 to 1951; since then, the brand Robert Piguet has been associated exclusively withfragrances.[2]
Piguet was born inYverdon-les-Bains inSwitzerland,[3] in 1898, according to the Swiss Fashion Museum, the Musée suisse de la Mode, which holds his archives,[4] although many other sources give an alternative birth year of 1901.[3][5] InParis Couturiers and Milliners, published in 1949, Piguet is said to have been 17 in 1918.[6]
Piguet died atLausanne, Switzerland, on 22 February 1953.[7]Jean Cocteau, a close friend of Piguet, wrote upon his death: "he loved, he invented, he gave...a generous and vibrant member of our team."[8]
The young Piguet originally trained to be abanker, like his father, but preferredfashion design, much to his father's disapproval.[6] In late 1918, just after the end ofWorld War I, he decided to go toParis to pursue his vocation.[6]
Initially, Piguet began working withPaul Poiret, before being poached by the Paris branch ofRedfern.[9] In 1932, an American author writing on Paris fashion commented that the American cartoonist 'would probably select Robert Piguet, the designer at Redfern's, as the ideal Parisian dressmaker.'[9]
In 1933, Piguet launched his own fashion house.[4]Eleanor Lambert described him as known for '"thin suits" and tasteful day dresses,'[5] whilstVogue declared him the 'master of the little wool dress'.[10] He is perhaps best known for givingChristian Dior his big break in 1937, allowing him to design for three collections.[11][12] Dior later said: 'Robert Piguet taught me the virtues of simplicity through which true elegance must come.'[13][14] One of Dior's designs for Piguet, a day dress called 'Cafe Anglais' with a short and full skirt was particularly well received.[11][12] While at Piguet, Dior worked alongsidePierre Balmain, and was succeeded byMarc Bohan as house designer.[12] In addition to Dior, Bohan and Balmain, other designers who had an early start with Piguet includedJames Galanos andHubert de Givenchy.[15][16] He also collaborated with the Italian fashion illustratorRené Gruau, whose artwork depicted many of Piguet's designs and was featured in promotional materials of the time.[17][18]
In 1938, Piguet relocated his fashion house to the Rond-Point des Champs-Élysées. The salon, known for its grand design and pastel-colored rooms, attracted Parisian elites and members of the artistic community.[19][20]
Piguet's archive, consisting of 3,000 original designs, photographs and documents, is held by the Musée suisse de la Mode, in his birthplace, Yverdon-les-Bains.[4]
In collaboration withGermaine Cellier, Robert Piguet launched his first perfumeBandit (created 1942) in the USA in 1944,[21] with a dramatic presentation featuring models with guns and knives, one of whom is said to have smashed a bottle of the fragrance on the floor.[13][22] His most successful fragrance wasFracas (1948), also co-developed with Cellier - an updated version of which was inducted into theFiFi Awards's Hall of Fame in 2006.[13] Other fragrances developed under Piguet's supervision wereVisa (1945) andBaghari (1950).[13] Following Piguet's death, fragrances such asCravache (1963) andFutur (1960s) continued to be developed under his name, although 'Robert Piguet' gradually fell from public awareness until being bought by the American company Fashion Fragrances & Cosmetics Ltd in 1993.[13][23]
When Redfern took young Robert Piguet away from Poiret, it was a great business stroke for the house, which had fallen into one of those aristocratic declines which sooner or later overtake all the older establishments when their designers grow conservative and come to regard the latest fancies as just a little bit mad if not actually out of taste.
Dior designed three collections while at Piguet's, and the most famous dress he created then was the Cafe Anglais...
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