Lucien Lelong
(1918-1948)
Lucien Lelong was born in Paris, France on October 11, 1889. His father founded and owned a textile factory in 1896, and his mother Eleanore was a good dress-maker. He discovered his vocation in the family business and
as soon as World War I was over, he expanded the family business by creating his own fashion house in the late 1918. He became immediately famous due to the neat tailoring of his designs and his skill’s in choosing and manufacturing fabrics. He did not actually create his own designs but hired the most prominent designers of the time to design his collections such as Christian Dior, Pierre Balmain and Hubert Givenchy.
Following a trip to the United States he learned everything pertaining to the working methods in the mass production of clothes, he returned to France and created a line of pret-a-porter (ready-to-wear) collection, branded “LL” Edition. Lelong used his double” LL” logo to influence his designs as well as refining the packaging design of his perfumes and cosmetics. He was a master of the use of knits and bias to shape the body in the most complementary way. His house’s trademark was their unique ability in designing with fur. In 1939, just before the beginning of World War II, Lelong showed tightly waisted, full skirts; a style that became the famous "New Look" in Dior's collection in 1947.
Lelong was an active member of high society; socialized with the women he dressed, and did not miss the opportunity to capitalize on his name. From 1937 until the end of the war in 1948, Lelong was President of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, in which role he was able to fight and hinder the transfer of the Parisian fashion houses to Berlin during the German occupation. After the war, in 1947, Lelong showed pencil-slim dresses; pleated, tiered, harem hemlines; and suits with wasp waists, cutaway fronts and square shoulders.
His retirement was the result of poor health in 1952. Lucien Lelong died of a heart attack on May 11, 1958.
