Although not many people know about Madame Grès now, she deserves to be regarded in the same light as Madeleine Vionnet and Poiret. The beauty and softness of her designs still appear very modern and innovative.
The Early Career of Madame Gres
Madame Grès was born Germaine Krebs in 1903. She changed her name to Alix Barton and trained as a sculptor. Sculpting was considered an unsuitable career for women in those days so a friend suggested that Alix work in design. She then decided to become a fashion designer and trained at the French fashion house of Premet. She learned the art of dressmaking by working on toiles (copies of couture designs).
In 1934 Madame Grès opened her first shop in Paris, which she called Alix, but she didn’t become famous until she introduced silk jersey into her designs. Inspired by classical Greek gowns, she began making evening dresses of jersey which she draped onto the body. These were often softly pleated in flowing styles. Sometimes they were one-shouldered. These soft, feminine gowns look surprisingly modern.
Ethnic costumes also inspired Madame Grès because of her travels to such exotic places as Bali, Egypt and North Africa. She designed a dress called ‘The Temple of Heaven’ after watching Javanese dancers. Madame Grès also used oriental and geometric colors and patterns in many of her designs.
The House of Grès
The designer established her fashion house after she won first prize for fashion design at the International Exposition in Paris. She used an anagram of the first name of her husband, Serge Czerofkov, for the name of her salon.
Although Madame Grès was Jewish, the Nazis permitted the house to stay open during the war. However, Madame Grès refused to dress the wives of Nazi officers. She also used contraband silks from Lyons to make clothes in the red, white, and blue colors of the tricolour.
Madame Grès’s feminine evening gowns, ethnic-influenced designs, and tailored suits, found favour amongst celebrities and the aristocracy. She became extremely successful and dressed such famous women as the Duchess of Windsor, Jackie Onassis and Greta Garbo.
Cabochard
Cabochard, Madame Grès’s first and most famous perfume, was created by Bernard Chant in 1959. Madame Grès chose the name herself – it can be loosely translated as ‘stubborn’. She said that the scent reminded her of a walk along an Indian beach.
The perfume became extremely successful.
The fashion house unfortunately fell into decline eventually and the great designer sold the business in the 1980s. Madame Grès died in 1993, and was survived by her daughter, Anne.
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