Voulue

Somerset house is the new venue for  the London Fashion Show, and on a clear sky blue day in late September,  a more upbeat sound is now drifting from this historical site, that of contemporary modern fashion. Will the revival of fashion house that was at its peak nearly sixty years ago, have a place in the 21st Century.

Revival of 1950’s Handbags by the House of Jacques Fath

In a small display area on the second floor of 180, I found a small but agreeable collection of what I would have described as my grandmother’s handbag collection. She had spent many of her early years in the delightful South of France, in Nice and later in Normandy. Any recollection of her on my part, has only been anecdotal from my Mother, and the black and white photographs shown over the years, as unfortunately she passed away at the end of the 1950’s.

My minds image of grannies handbags may have been rather unjust at the handbags on display, and the more I observed, the more I liked their ageless qualities, but what was the main factor that caught my attention. It was not only the colour, which was part of the overall attraction; subtlety of line giving the pieces that classical 1950’s image, but it was a factor that at first was elusive. I sat and considered what had inspired the artist at the beginning of his design process, what could he have used, I could only make a comparison from nature, it was a display of a beetle’s wing casings; just prior to exposing its underlying wings prior to flight, with the handles of the handbag resembling the insects antennae. The casings, which all were of contrasting and complementary to the overall design of the bag, appear only on the larger handbags within the collection. All of Jacque Fath’s handbags were finished with a wooden bar top closure, and a decorated metal clasp.

The small clutches on display showed a meticulous gold coloured chain linked metal with a classic 50’s gold globe fastener. Once opened, they reveal double lined gusseted sides, with a matching interior of delicate pink veal hide.

Who was Jacque Fath?

Frenchman, Jacque Fath began his House of Couture at the age of twenty five, though four years later his creative flow was interrupted by war and a spell of imprisonment. Within four years after his release, he had developed a successful range of perfumery that is still available. Fath’s later journeys to the USA enabled him to get into the retail side of his designs delivering great exposure especially when he designed for the stars of the growing film industry, with what we today would describe as unheard of titles such as the “Red Shoes”. It must not be forgotten the Jacques Fath designed the wedding dress for Rita Haworth in 1949.Jacque Fath had contributed   greatly to what we call today the “Golden age of Couture.

Laurence Dumenil new face of Jacque Fath.

It is with Laurence Dumenil, London based designer, now applies his artistic talent for the House of Jacques Fath, his designs on show at London Fashion Week are exemplary for maintaining the integrity to Jacque Fath. Dumenil states in the London Fashion Show biography: “I enjoy everything about him! His impish, audacious, witty, quaint personality, which led him to a typically Parisian rise to fame… his ways of masking, with an apparent bubbly, carefree mind, his successful talents as well as his daring, avant-garde modernity.”

These tours de forces are not for everyday use, they deserve, no, they demand the respect which this couture demands, an icon of a generation, the “Golden age of Couture”.

Photograpy:PMc (please supply further details for credit/link)