Evening dress

Jeanne Lanvin was apprenticed to a milliner and a dressmaker before opening her own millinery shop in 1889. She expanded into dressmaking when her clients began asking for the ensembles in which she adorned her daughter, Marguerite di Pietro (1897-1958). Her style embodied the femininity of youth in a most modern way with meticulous and relatively sparse surface embellishments and robe de style silhouettes, which could be worn by women of all ages. Lanvin's aptitude can be seen through her house's 1920s expansion into fur, lingerie, men's wear, household goods and perfume. She even had the forethought to open her own dye factory which produced the inimitable 'Lanvin blue.' The longevity of the House of Lanvin can be credited to her attentive management and design standards from its inception.

This early 1920s Lanvin design, with a modified robe de style silhouette and veiled embroidered underskirt, represents the "jeune fille" style which characterized much of Lanvin's work. Its peasant theme blouse and skirt also indicate Lanvin's interest in French costume history and her facility at reinterpreting it for her clientele.