Madeleine Vionnet- (1876-1975).
French Designer
Madeleine Vionnet was known for introducing the bias cut in the 1920’s. This cut follows the natural form of the female shape. When she says “ The dress must not hang on the body but follow its lines” I think she meant that the dress should adopt the female body shape and imitate the natural movement of the body.
She also liberated the body from stays and corsets; her garments would clung to the shape of the body. When she says “When a woman smiles the dress must smile with her” she illustrates how dresses must take on the personality of the person wearing them.
Vionnet was influenced by the modern dancer Isadora Duncan, whose and barefoot moves and flowing dress inspired her to do away with the corset.
She also said “A woman’s muscles are the best corset one could imagine” ; she loved everything that delineated women curves.
Vionnet’s bias cut, was a technique in which fabric is cut on a diagonal, across the grain. Saying “I never came across any fabric that disobeyed me,” she worked mostly with silk and chiffon making them alive, falling in fluid lines that followed the body’s every contour. Her dresses celebrated the female form.
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Bibliography
"Fashionable Quote of the Week by Madeleine Vionnet." Over dressed for life. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2013. <http:/http://overdressedforlife.com/2012/08/27/fashionable-quote-of-the-week-by-madeleine-vionnet/>.
"Madeleine Vionnet | Vionnet." Vionnet.
N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2013.
<http://vionnet.com/about/madeleine-vionnet>.
"Vionnet - Voguepedia."Vogue Fashion, Features, and More on Vogue.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2013.