PARIS.- Jean Patou has made his mark on the history of fashion in France and around the world. Visionary, hard worker, always in a hurry, he developed both a style and a business. His timeless style, mixing dexterity with chic and casual, morning and evening, was expressed through a fashion for all ages, reflecting primarily an absolute modernity, a reflection of his life.
His company, rapidly expanding since its inception, was intended for a cosmopolitan clientele from 1924. America called him “the most elegant man in Europe”.
He had a sense of marketing before the term existed. He launched the first ever suntan oil “Huile de Chaldée” in 1927. He created numerous perfumes, including the now legendary Joy. He was the first to organize spectacular fashion shows and to recruit American models for French catwalks.
Symbol of luxury and elegance, Jean Patou, who loved the spotlight, also had a “secret garden” of an avid collector. He had a love for gardens, master paintings, objets d’art and rare books. Collecting books was one of his great passions, as evidenced by the quality of the manuscripts gathered in his collection.
Born in Paris in 1887, he created his first fashion house at the age of 22. In 1919, back from the war, he developed the couture house bearing his name that would bring him fame. The five years of war that kept him far from Paris, including three on the Macedonian Front in Salonika starting in 1916, deeply marked him and inspired his taste for embroidery, colors and fragrances.
In 1923, he settled into a mansion house, rue de la Faisanderie. The decoration was entrusted to the Company of French Art (Compagnie des Arts Français), founded by architect Louis Süe and painter André Mare. They also created the interior design of his couture house, numbers 7 and 9 of the rue Saint-Florentin.
By 1925, his fashion collections were proliferating. They included dresses, coats, hats, furs and perfumes. An incredible expansion, driven rapidly by the rhythm of the Roaring Twenties. His romance with America started in 1924, the beginning of a long and mutual fascination.
Jean Patou was a giant of the fashion world, dominating the Couture market and anticipating ready-to-wear. Jean Patou celebrated life and the female body. He met an early death in 1936 at the age of 49, after giving birth to the new style of the liberated woman.
This sale, entrusted by the heirs of Jean Patou to the Auction House Pierre Bergé & Associés, reflects this outstanding path, in the heart of the Roaring Twenties and in the Art Deco era. It gathers approximately 200 lots, including about sixty concerning the world of perfume, fifty presenting iconic models of the fashion house and over a hundred manuscripts and autographs.
Jean de Mouy specifies: “I wanted these exhibitions and this sale to pay tribute to the visionary talent of my great-uncle and highlight not only the fashion designer, the innovative businessman, but also a man of culture and bibliophile as well as a man in a hurry.”
Jean Patou couturier
Preserved by the heirs of the couturier, the textile pieces presented in the sale show the quest for simplicity dear to their creator. Nothing ostentatious or superfluous in the cuts, patterns or colors. Ninety years after their passage through the workshops, inside and outside, the quality of work remains dazzling.
Each piece contains history, from the sweaters created for the “Garçonnes” (tomboys) to the jersey pieces inspired by Suzanne Lenglen, Joséphine Baker or Louise Brooks.
Intended for the most sophisticated clientele of the time, a great part of the collection is devoted to evening dresses, for which simplicity and modernity are the keywords.
Among these, the famous “Black and white”, worn by the Broadway dancer Eleanora Ambrose or the “musardise” are all creations celebrating androgynous silhouettes, with their geometric patterns, fringes and low-cuts.
The sale also includes creations with a more classical inspiration, such as an evening dress from the 1935 spring-summer collection, with small buttons in blue silk crepe with blue lagoon percale camellias, accompanied by a long hooded cape.
Afternoon dresses with warm and cheerful tones are imbued with the style of the Roaring Twenties, among which is a muslin creation with autumn colors and a loose drape. In the same spirit, the dress “Nuit de mai”, with a floral decoration of apple green, pink and grey on beige background, highlighted with a velvet belt and a knot on the back.
Orientalism, dear to Jean Patou, is also widely represented in the sale. This folklore coat in navy wool with a woven decoration and red wool embroidery is an anonymous piece, brought back from the Balkans by the couturier during the First World War. Two dresses are inspired by this oriental breath: “Nuit de chine” made of satin and silk tulle embroidered with pink glass beads and metallic thread, with a Chinoiserie pattern, as well as the creation “l’arabesque”, in artificial crepe decorated with an openwork embroidery and ribbed cuffs.
Some evening or opera coats, made of velvet and decorated with fur, underline the prestige of the collection.
Sportswear of course has a place of honor in this sale. Meeting the aspirations of a chic and active female clientele, this collection combines casual and sophistication. Among these creations, the iconic golf outfit worn by madeleine Barbas patou, the couturier’s sister, and by lilian Farley, one of his top models, should be noted.
Winter sports outfits also are part of this line of creations illustrated by the magazine Modes et Travaux. Drawn to the image of the “Jean Patou” woman, androgynous, active and sophisticated, this outfit including a jacket, pants, a tie, a scarf and socks should also be noted.
Jean Patou perfumer
“Perfume feeds off of fashion. In 1925, Jean Patou launches into the double trade of couturier and perfumer” says Emmanuelle Polle in her book “Jean Patou: A Fashionable Life” (Flammarion, 2013). “While the bottles are made of Baccarat crystal, their easily identified shape, topped by a cap in the shape of a pineapple sometimes black, sometimes gold, are designed by Louis Süe and André Mare who continue their collaboration with their couturier friend.”
He invented a perfume bar located in the fashion house that allowed clients to create their own fragrance and harmonize their scent with their outfit. He was the first to present lipsticks in sterling silver or vermeil cases, made by Cartier.
Two perfume bars are presented in the sale. One is drop-leaf, made of Amboyna burl and includes two bottles, “Sweet” and “Dry”. The interior is titled “Jean Patou” in gold letters, with a brass plate engraved “Cocktail Jean Patou Paris.”
The second one, also made of Amboyna burl, in a half-moon and circular shape, includes four bottles called “My Own”, Bitter Sweet”, “My Own”, “Dry” and seven numbered bottles “Angostura”, as well as two drawers containing blotters, pipettes and a graduated cylinder.
The iconic pieces include the notable “Joy”, famous signature perfume of the Patou house, a copy of the famous “Colony”, with its pineapple shaped bottle and a Baccarat crystal bottle of “Amour, Amour”, sealed with its cord of old gold.
Also at a place of honor is the perfume “Normandie”, an effigy of the famous transatlantic liner, created for its maiden voyage to New York in 1935. This metal bottle in the shape of the liner was among the copies offered to first class passengers and made after a stylized drawing by Louis Süe.
A Passion for the written word
Jean Patou assembled a large collection of books, with a keen interest in the history of textiles and a passion for literature. His literary references inspired his creations.
His interest in the written word was that of a bibliophile, a lover of bindings to which he affixed his bookplate. He had his books covered with leather bindings decorated with Art Deco motifs, which he sometimes drew himself. He also assembled an important collection of manuscripts and autographed letters of cultural and historical figures who were part of his reference universe.
A reflection of the couturier’s international destiny, Jean Patou’s collection of manuscripts honors la Fayette, symbol of Franco-American friendship. Two sets of autographed letters of the General retrace the history of the War of Independence.
The first consists of twelve letters exchanged between la Fayette and his brother-in-law the vicomte de Noailles while both men were at the front. This correspondence is an intimate testimony of the great friendship they shared. It is very rare, as only a few comprehensive exchanges of letters between la Fayette and a single correspondent from that time were preserved.
The second set consists of the personal archives of la Fayette dating from his famous “Farewell Tour of America” (1824-1825). This series of documents was the source of the illustrious book by Levasseur voyage du general Lafayette aux Etats-Unis d’Amérique en 1824 et 1825 (Paris, 1829) (Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825). It also includes the remarkable manuscript of discours au congrès (Speech to Congress), as well as the draft of Discours à John Quincy Adams (Speech to John Quincy Adams), General Lafayette’s farewell to America.
Among the key pieces should be noted the second manuscript letter in which la Fayette accepted the invitation of the Congress in May 1824. This historical set is punctuated by welcome letters sent by various authorities; mayors, university presidents of major American cities. An ensemble of 35 speeches written by la Fayette reveals the formidable “pop star” welcome that he received during his triumphant tour through the United States.
The collection also includes letters of personalities and manuscripts belonging to the literary history of the 19th century. Among these, a set of 10 letters of Flaubert on the developments of Salambô addressed to Ernest Feydeau, author of the bestselling novel Fanny and father of Georges Feydeau. Letters of Marcel Proust, Delacroix, Ingres and Monet are part of this set.
The manuscripts also include a pamphlet by Pierre Louÿs, two chapters of Enfantines by Larbaud and two youthful works by Colette: Minne and le Mariage de Minne.
Jean Patou, Süe and Mare : a special relationship
After meeting Bernard Boutet de Monvel and Louis Süe in the Eastern Army, Jean patou started a collaboration with the latter that became a great friendship. süe and mare with the compagnie des arts Français, designed the interior of the couture house located at number 7 and 9 of the rue Saint Florentin in 1922 as well as the one of his mansions on rue de la Faisanderie in 1923.
A furniture ensemble of these creations, coming from the couture house, will be presented in the sale, including a pair of low easy chairs, which were part of the fitting rooms furniture (Model 47 of the Süe and Mare catalogue by Florence Camard)(Estimate: 2,000/3,000 € each), a “Saint-Florentin” dressing table from the models’ dressing room (Estimate: 1,500/2,000 €), a presentation desk (Estimate 1,800/2,500 € ), an armchair (Model 48 of the Süe and Mare catalogue by Florence Camard)(Estimate 1,000/1,500 €) and Jean Patou’s personal desk in Macassar veneer (Estimate: 4,000/6,000 €).
