01IF A DRESS HAS EVER SEEMED TO POUR OVER THE BODY LIKE LIQUID, YOU
HAVE MADELEINE VIONNET TO THANK. THE FRENCH COUTURIERE PERFECTED
THE 'BIAS CUT', AND WITH IT CHANGED HOW CLOTHES MOVE ON A WOMAN
FOREVER. HER NAME IS QUIET; HER INFLUENCE IS EVERYWHERE.
02HER TRICK WAS THE GRAIN OF THE CLOTH. INSTEAD OF CUTTING FABRIC
STRAIGHT, VIONNET CUT IT ON THE DIAGONAL, THE 'BIAS', SO IT GAINED A
NATURAL STRETCH AND CLUNG, THEN FLOWED, WITH THE BODY. IT SOUNDS
TECHNICAL. IT LOOKS LIKE MAGIC IN MOTION.
03IT WAS ALSO A QUIET LIBERATION. VIONNET'S SOFT, BODY-SKIMMING GOWNS
NEEDED NO CORSET, NO STIFFENING, NO CAGE. ALONGSIDE PAUL POIRET, SHE
HELPED FREE WOMEN FROM THE WHALEBONE THEY HAD BEEN LACED INTO FOR
GENERATIONS. COMFORT, MADE ELEGANT.
04SHE DESIGNED LIKE A SCULPTOR. VIONNET DRAPED AND PINNED HER IDEAS
DIRECTLY ONTO SMALL WOODEN DOLLS, WORKING IN THE ROUND BEFORE
SCALING UP. SHE THOUGHT OF A GARMENT NOT AS A FLAT PATTERN BUT AS
ARCHITECTURE THAT HAD TO LIVE ON A MOVING BODY.
05HER SHAPES LOOKED TO ANCIENT GREECE. COLUMNS OF FABRIC, HANDKERCHIEF
HEMS, COWL AND HALTER NECKS: CLEAN, CLASSICAL AND TIMELESS. WHILE
OTHERS CHASED DECORATION, VIONNET CHASED PURE LINE, AND MADE THE
FABRIC ITSELF THE WHOLE EVENT.
06THAT IS WHY SHE MATTERS. EVERY SLIP DRESS, EVERY LIQUID RED-CARPET
GOWN, EVERY BIAS SKIRT THAT SWINGS AS YOU WALK, RUNS ON HER
DISCOVERY. VIONNET DID NOT DECORATE THE BODY. SHE LEARNED TO LET
CLOTH OBEY IT.