The most elegant man in Europe, many called him, gave the fashion community a whole different look on sportswear and fragrances. His role in twentieth century fashion was very important: he transformed from selling designs from a small dressmaking store in Paris to designing for many celebrities as well as creating one of the most expensive perfumes known today. These are some brief reasons why Jean Patou is considered one of the most powerful and influencing figures from twentieth century fashion.
Patou inherited strong entrepreneur traits from his father and was not afraid to take risks, both setting him up for success by the age of twenty-two. Jean Patou was born in August of 1880 in Normandy, France. His father worked closely with leather tanning and supplied many Parisian houses with his leather. Therefore; growing up, Patou was immediately introduced into the world of trade and fashion. In 1912 Patou created his first dressmaking shop in Paris called Madison Perry where his designs were loved by many America’s.
This dressmaking shop will also offer furs and tailoring. As the love for his designs grew, his entire Perry collection would later be purchased by an American buyer. In 1914 Patou opened his first couture house with many designs in mind. Proceeding World War I and Patou being sent off to war, the designs were never able to be shown to the public. Once Jean Patou returned he was ready to get back in action. He asked Bernard Boutet de Monve, whom he worked closely with in the war and was now working with many fashion magazines, to help him create ads for his fashion line.
Patou also asked many leading interior designers to help put his couture house back together. After his couture house was finally put together to resemble fashions leading edge, Patou was back on track with his amazing designs. The 1920’s is when Jean Patou became a leading designer for numerous areas of fashion. Throughout this year Jean will show off his expertise as a colorist, create his sportswear lines, join Le Chambre Syndical, and put out his first fragrances. During the early 1920’s is when Chanel and Patou also began their rivalry.
Patou’s early 1920s garments, like those of his archrival Chanel, were embellished with colorful folkloric Russian embroidery. His bell-skirted, high waisted evening dresses … were delicately embroidered, or embellished with fine lace, which he felt was more youthful than heavy lace” ( ). After putting out the colorful folkloric designs, as spring and summer of 1922 rolled around Patou let his expertise with color shine. He incorporated the color beige into his new collection, and people fell in love.
One of his finest beige designs was described as, “A gown of beige kasha cloth featuring a deep V-neck that was emphasized by a lingerie-style collar, while beige chiffon was combined with kasha to form pleated side panels and full undersleeves that were finished with a tight cuff” (). Patou also created a beige jersey during this time that will later influence some of Chanel’s later designs. After the beige trend, Patou created new designs that were influenced by the fine arts. Each design would incorporate geometric shapes that incorporated colors from Picasso paintings.
These designs would be shown in Vogue multiple times throughout the year. The early 1920’s was a great year for Patou. Jean Patou’s sportswear line was one of the biggest successes that began during his innovative idea of the “new women,” a long legged small breasted female. Patou found this description to fit tennis champion, Suzanne Lenglen, perfectly. He put together an outfit for one of Suzanne’s biggest matches where she wore a, “white pleated silk skirt that skimmed her knees (and flew above them when she ran, revealing her knotted stockings), a sleeveless white sweater based on a man’s cardigan, and a vivid orange headband” ().
During the match, many were shocked by her outfit decision, but soon after many women began to recreate Lenglen’s outfit. Patou grew his fashion line by incorporating sportswear for individuals who wanted to appear like they lived a sporty lifestyle. One of his greatest creations during this time was, “his “JP” monogram on is garments; he was the first fashion designer to exploid the status of a well-known name” (). As his sportswear line grew rapidly, he decided to incorporate a sportswear boutique called Le Coin De Sports within his couture house.
The boutique will feature “suites of rooms, each devoted to a different sport, including aviation, yachting, tennis, golf, riding, and fishing” (). After working closely with Suzanne, Patou’s knew more women could fit the “new women” description. Jean had a love for American women so he sent out a flyer looking for American models for his line. He received over six hundred applications but only six were chosen. After featuring the six models in one of his advertisement the “American model” and “new women” were created.
After dominating in the early 1920’s and in sportswear, Jean Patou’s success did not stop there. He began creating fragrances for the multiple female personalities. He created his first three fragrances with the help of Raymond Barbas. They all three were a hit so he started creating more, “downstairs in his couture house [where] he installed a cubist-style cocktail bar complete with a “bartender” who mixed special perfumes for his clients” (). In 1930 Patou will put out his best fragrance JOY which was created using, “10,600 jasmine flowers and 335 roses to make just one ounce of the perfume” ().
This fragrance is still sold today and retails on the Neiman Marcus website for six hundred dollars. In the late 1920’s and 30’s Patou’s designs began to focus more towards the business side of fashion, where he was still being considered a great designer but not as much of an innovator. Jean Patou would put out his last collection in 1936, the year he unfortunately dies at the age of fifty-five. Though he passed, his family took over the company which is still running in France today. Because of Jean’s strong entrepreneur traits, he is lovingly known and remember as an influential twentieth-century fashion designer.
