Fashion icons: Lucile, the great precursor of the 19th century who survived the Titanic

Madrid

11/02/2021 – 13:39-
–

Despite having risen to fame for being one of the survivors of the Titanic, Lady Duff-Gordon (London, 1863 – London, 1935), artistically known as Lucile, already occupied a great place in the high society of the time for achieving such important milestones as being one of the first women (before Coco Chanel) in betting on women’s liberation, removing corsets and oppressive underwear.

Lucile’s mother was a dressmaker, so she had always been familiar with the trade. In 1894 he opened the Maison Lucile, in the heart of London’s West End, where She began to stand out quickly for her underwear – nothing conventional at the time -, her tea and party dresses. One of his personal brands was the elaboration of luxurious garments with layers in pastel tones, with wide sleeves, highly ornamented, and hand-embroidered bouquets of flowers, in addition to his commitment to lower necklines and lighter skirts.

–

The success of his proposal made Lucile’s brand become one of the first international haute couture firms, opening branches of his fashion house in London, Paris, New York and Chicago, where he dressed the high society, aristocracy, royalty and silent film actresses of the height of Mary Pickford.

–

And, in addition to her conscientious commitment to retaliate against women in corsets and her achievements in international sales, the designer earned the name of ‘forerunner’ for more feats, since was also the first to organize fashion shows considered ‘modern’, training the first professional models herself.

–

Her sister, the erotic novelist Elinor Glyn, It was a great support for the designer, since she advertised the business better than anyone. A profession where Lucile also felt comfortable, as she wrote fashion columns for newspapers such as Harper’s Bazaar and Good Housekeeping.