Jeanne Paquin
(1869-1936)
Jeanne Paquin was born Jeanne Marie Charlotte Beckers, in Saint-Denis, France in the year 1869. She started her career as a seamstress in the French firm Maisson Rouff. In 1891, together with her husband (banker and businessman) Isidore Rene Jacob,
they opened The House of Paquin, (her husband’s nickname), which was to become one of the largest international Haute Couture Houses of their time. Paquin used techniques learned at Maison Rouff in her designs. She was known for her attention to detail, careful choices, her creative use of color, (exemplified by her celebrated Paquin shade of red), her fabric coordination and refine use of lace overlays.
She was definitely ahead of her time in her approach to both advertising and promotion, organizing fashion shows which were rich with theatrics. She would send groups of models dressed in her clothes to elite events. After five years in business Maison Paquin engaged in a partnership with an English group. She moved to London keeping her Parisian base at Rue de la Paix. She was made President of the fashion area of the Paris Universal International Exhibition in the year 1900. By then Paquin was famous for her dazzling gold and silver evening dresses and blue twill suits. Not only did she show her creations at the Exhibition, but also herself, in the form of a mannequin inlaid with silver, shown sitting at her desk.
Her rich and modern collections were inspired by memories of distant lands and a passion for Japanese objects. In 1907, she created a kimono-style cape and reinvented the suit with a pleated skirt that made it practical to wear even when traveling by subway. In that same year the House of Paquin surpassed in volume, that of the House of Worth. In 1910 she received the Order of Leopold II of Belgium Award and The Legion D’honneur in the field of commerce in 1913, and was elected President of the Chambre Syndicale des Couturiers from 1917-1919.
She opened a branch of her famous house in New York that specialized in furs. Her clientele included royalty, actresses, and wives of American tycoons such as the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, Wannamakers and Astros. As her branches multiplied across the world, from Spain to Argentina, she invented the fashion cruise, taking her creations to the main cities of Latin America; making the House of Paquin the first fashion house to have foreign branches in London, Buenos Aires, Madrid, and New York.
After the death of her husband, Paquin operated the business with her family until 1920. At the age of 50 she unexpectedly retired. The fashion house was ran by different designers over the years that followed: Madeleine Wallis a specialist in furs; the Spaniard Ana de Pombo (1936) whose Velasquez’s style dresses were much admired; another Spaniard Antonio Canovas de Castillo (1942) and Colette Massignac. The fashion house was re-launched by a young Basque, Lou Clavarie, in 1949, and merged with the House of Worth in 1954, two years later the House Worth-Paquin closed.
Jeanne Paquin, is known as the “first Couturier.” She was one of the first designers to understand fashion marketing and promotion as was evidenced by her all white ballet fashion show finales and her parade of tango dresses. She was the first to take her collection on tour to major cities in the United States.Paquin is known as the first woman besides the renowned Rose Bertin, to achieve success in the French Fashion industry on the same level as great dressmakers like Worth.
