World War II is of course not synonymous with fashion in the sense that the average consumer may think of. But the fact of the matter is, as Hitler was beginning his ascent to supposed world domination, and countries were being invaded and families torn apart, there was still at the base of certain minds, a need for escape in one of its most traditional forms--clothing. Before the start of WW2, couturier Jacques Fath had laid a reliable foundation for his house that found the Parisian wealthy calling on him throughout the second great war; this fame and reliability carried his career on to continue well after one of the most raucous times in world history.
In this way, Fath proves an intriguing designer to study. His flair for the extravagant appealed to customers desperate for luxury in times of high-stress and despair. My brief time spent flipping through biographies on Fath revealed that this was a man who truly delighted in enjoying life and seemed to want to infuse all of his work with this joy.
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| Jacques Fath at the beach / Photo credit: Walter Carone, via Pg 64 of Jacques Fath by Valerie Guillaume |
Andre Ostier, personal friend of Jacques Fath, noted in his essay
Jacques Fath Recalled that Fath was one of the first couturiers to "launch younger colours, which he knew how to use with a great subtlety. He mixed blue and green at a time when it was considered that black and brown were the only colours an elegant woman could wear." Fath also enjoyed wearing green plaid tartan dinner jackets to galas and premieres, a practice that was deemed "eccentric" by his peers and associates. His own unique sense of style was highly influential to menswear of the day; Ostier notes that Jacques was one of the first to wear roll-neck (think today's shawl neck) sweaters for work and often sported frilled shirts.
Fath's personal love of eccentric costumes and grand parties puts his personality squarely within the realm of another great who came before him, Paul Poiret; dressing up was a crucial part of each man's daily lives. Both also found their greatest inspiration in their wives, whom they loved designing for. Those women's body types essentially became
the "ideal body" during the decades surrounding World Wars I and II.
In the late 1930s as his career was beginning to take solid shape, Fath found himself designing dresses for the gorgeous Genevieve Boucher de la Bruyere; Genevieve would go on to become Mrs. Fath and, of course, Jacques's greatest muse.
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| Jacques and Genevieve at Longchamp, 1941 / Photo credit: Pg. 70 of Jacques Fath by Valerie Guillaume |
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| Genevieve Fath on the cover of Pour Elle, March 1942 / Photo credit: Pg. 71 of Jacques Fath by Valerie Guillaume |
Fath, like contemporary Dior, found great success with boutiques and the sales of mass-produced luxury items like scarves and costume jewelry. At the time of his death in 1954, Fath's house employed 600 people and was equipped for appeasing both the couture and anonymous mass markets. His ties and scarves were well known and sold at most large stores. As Ostier noted, "it was a well-known trademark, and a great one."
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| Fath fitting mannequin Bettina, 1949 / Photo credit: Andre Ostier via Pg 62 of Jacques Fath by Valerie Guillaume |
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