Wall Street Journal
As "Rocky VII" proves, it's hard to live up to the original but harder yet to abandon an established brand. This is true of fashion houses, too, which is why we're essentially up to "Dior V," "Givenchy V" and "Halston VI: The Designer Strikes Back."
Now another former haute couture house is seeking ready-to-wear immortality with new backers and a fresh designer. Testing the limits of the strategy, the brand in question is Vionnet, a masterful label that you probably have never heard of.
Its founding designer, Madeleine Vionnet shuttered her business in 1939, and it stayed shut for six decades. So while the name is venerated in fashion circles, it's not as if every high-school girl is dying to own a Vionnet bag.
Yet earlier this year, Matteo Marzotto bought the rights to the Vionnet brand with his friend Gianni Castiglioni, chief executive of Marni. Mr. Marzotto is the sixth-generation scion of an Italian textile family and the former chief executive of Valentino (now "Valentino III"). "We have to re-interpret a bright past, but not reproduce it," he says.
The reintroduction of Vionnet comes just in time to take advantage of the first-ever Vionnet retrospective at the Louvre's Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. The exhibit of 130 dresses, with interactive explanations of Vionnet's techniques, runs through Jan. 31. The show also may remind the public that Coco Chanel was not the only designer who pioneered today's modern, comfortable clothing.
Now another former haute couture house is seeking ready-to-wear immortality with new backers and a fresh designer. Testing the limits of the strategy, the brand in question is Vionnet, a masterful label that you probably have never heard of.
Its founding designer, Madeleine Vionnet shuttered her business in 1939, and it stayed shut for six decades. So while the name is venerated in fashion circles, it's not as if every high-school girl is dying to own a Vionnet bag.
Yet earlier this year, Matteo Marzotto bought the rights to the Vionnet brand with his friend Gianni Castiglioni, chief executive of Marni. Mr. Marzotto is the sixth-generation scion of an Italian textile family and the former chief executive of Valentino (now "Valentino III"). "We have to re-interpret a bright past, but not reproduce it," he says.
The reintroduction of Vionnet comes just in time to take advantage of the first-ever Vionnet retrospective at the Louvre's Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. The exhibit of 130 dresses, with interactive explanations of Vionnet's techniques, runs through Jan. 31. The show also may remind the public that Coco Chanel was not the only designer who pioneered today's modern, comfortable clothing.
Madeleine Vionnet popularized the forgiving bias cut and dispensed with buttons, zippers and hooks in favor of draping and wrapping fabric in comfortable forms; she dressed both Garbo and Dietrich. She created packable clothing for women who traveled, and her designs were so modern and so influential that you can find bits of them—wrap looks and drop-waist dresses, for instance—in almost any store today. Her work is studied in fashion schools with a reverence akin to aviation's regard for Charles Lindbergh.
Ms. Vionnet was paranoid when it came to copies—she pioneered dress-design copyrighting methods, cutting down on knock-offs. And in 1952, she donated her entire archive of dress samples, patterns and photographs to what is now the Musée des Arts Decoratifs.
Curator Pamela Golbin grins at her museum's fortune. "We've got the goods," she says. "She gave us the entire memory of her house."
The donation meant something different for Vionnet's new designer, Rodolfo Paglialunga: He lacked the benefit of an archive, bringing a whole new meaning to "inspired by." He worked from textbooks, photographs and anything else he could get his hands on.
Ms. Golbin says she toured Mr. Marzotto, Mr. Castiglioni and his wife (Marni designer Consuelo Castiglioni), and even Mr. Marzotto's mother through the exhibit. But Mr. Paglialunga says he was too shy to request a special tour. "I just went very quietly myself," he says.
"After I saw that, I was very scared … she's influenced everything," the designer says of Ms. Vionnet's work.
Thirteen years of designing women's wear for Miuccia Prada have given him a background in independent women, though. The resort/spring collection he created for Vionnet will arrive at Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Net-a-porter.com, Holt Renfrew and other stores later this month.
The spring 2010 collection shown in Paris last month walks a fine line between homage and modern life. Largely created from squares of fabric (right out of Vionnet textbooks), long tunics can also be worn as short dresses and can even be worn backward or thrown over gaucho-type slacks. Sleeves are tied like scarves at shoulders, and the scarf becomes a motif in shoes.
These are intriguing, attractive clothes that could be tossed in a suitcase. But because they're labeled Vionnet, they must be compared with the originals. The new Vionnet is heavier and less elegant, without the cutting-edge magic of the original.
Of course, the current dark Givenchy under Riccardo Tisci bears no resemblance to the former label of Hubert de Givenchy. It's just a brand—and a successful one. Brands like Nina Ricci, Halston and Rochas have recently been revolving doors for designers who set aside their artistic druthers to channel someone else's. Sometimes, as in the case of Balenciaga with designer Nicolas Ghesquière, investors hit gold.
This isn't the first attempt to revive Vionnet. Previous investors tried it in 2006 and 2007. So we're really talking here about "Vionnet IV." Mr. Marzotto, too, worries about missteps; as he details his plans, he adds, "I'm still crossing fingers every morning for Vionnet—crossing fingers with both hands."
Ms. Vionnet was paranoid when it came to copies—she pioneered dress-design copyrighting methods, cutting down on knock-offs. And in 1952, she donated her entire archive of dress samples, patterns and photographs to what is now the Musée des Arts Decoratifs.
Curator Pamela Golbin grins at her museum's fortune. "We've got the goods," she says. "She gave us the entire memory of her house."
The donation meant something different for Vionnet's new designer, Rodolfo Paglialunga: He lacked the benefit of an archive, bringing a whole new meaning to "inspired by." He worked from textbooks, photographs and anything else he could get his hands on.
Ms. Golbin says she toured Mr. Marzotto, Mr. Castiglioni and his wife (Marni designer Consuelo Castiglioni), and even Mr. Marzotto's mother through the exhibit. But Mr. Paglialunga says he was too shy to request a special tour. "I just went very quietly myself," he says.
"After I saw that, I was very scared … she's influenced everything," the designer says of Ms. Vionnet's work.
Thirteen years of designing women's wear for Miuccia Prada have given him a background in independent women, though. The resort/spring collection he created for Vionnet will arrive at Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Net-a-porter.com, Holt Renfrew and other stores later this month.
The spring 2010 collection shown in Paris last month walks a fine line between homage and modern life. Largely created from squares of fabric (right out of Vionnet textbooks), long tunics can also be worn as short dresses and can even be worn backward or thrown over gaucho-type slacks. Sleeves are tied like scarves at shoulders, and the scarf becomes a motif in shoes.
These are intriguing, attractive clothes that could be tossed in a suitcase. But because they're labeled Vionnet, they must be compared with the originals. The new Vionnet is heavier and less elegant, without the cutting-edge magic of the original.
Of course, the current dark Givenchy under Riccardo Tisci bears no resemblance to the former label of Hubert de Givenchy. It's just a brand—and a successful one. Brands like Nina Ricci, Halston and Rochas have recently been revolving doors for designers who set aside their artistic druthers to channel someone else's. Sometimes, as in the case of Balenciaga with designer Nicolas Ghesquière, investors hit gold.
This isn't the first attempt to revive Vionnet. Previous investors tried it in 2006 and 2007. So we're really talking here about "Vionnet IV." Mr. Marzotto, too, worries about missteps; as he details his plans, he adds, "I'm still crossing fingers every morning for Vionnet—crossing fingers with both hands."
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