Women's News & Views Five New Fashion Houses For Paris

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29722, 16 January 1962, Page 2

Women's News & Views Five New Fashion Houses For Paris

(NXJ>JI.-ReuteT)

PARIS.

Five designers will inaugurate couture houses in Pans in time for showings of the spring collections. Iwo of them, Mr Yves St. Laurent, formerly of the house of Christian Dior, and the young Roman designer, Mr Roberto Capucci, are already well-known personalities in the fashion world.

The other three, Mr Philippe Venet, Mr Jean-Marie Armand, and Mr Michel Tellin, are former assistant designers who are now launching out on their own. Mr Armand formerly worked at Nina Ricci and Madeleine De Rauch, while Mr Venet was assistant to Hubert de Givenchy, Financial experts in the Haute Couture Syndicate and leading buying offices in Paris are already speculating as to whether there is enough over-all business to support five new firms in Paris. Before World War 11, the major turnover of the couture houses came from the custom of private clients. Today, professional buyers far outrank the handful of women who can afford to buy original models in the famous Paris dressmaking houses. But buyers tend to flock to the same houses every season, instead of distributing trade among the numerous smaller firms. A redistribution of tie purchasing power of foreign

buyers is a plan constantly being discussed by Mr Jacques Heim, President of the syndicate. Joint Collections

Mr Heim would like to see the smaller houses band together and present joint collections to professional buyers. But he admits the smaller firms resent the status symbol of being classified in a group with other, less important, firms. Mr St. Laurent has chosen premises sightly off the beaten track, in the Rue Spontini, in tlhe residential area of the Etoile district in Paris. His lawsuit for damages amounting to nearly £43,000 against bis former employer, Mr Marcel Boussac, backer of the house of Dior, is still unsettled. He admits to having received substantial financial backing for his new venture from another source whose identity he refuses to reveal. Mr St Laurent’s staff includes 70 workers, together with sales staff and six mannequins. He intends to keep has firm working on a relatively small scale, and will specialise in the gay young fashions which he made famous art Christian Dior. The St Laurent is expected to make the bigges: fashion come-back since Chanel reopened her salon five years ago. Next on the list of new houses is that of Mr Capucci, also an established designer. Successful Creator

For years, many of the leading Italian designers, like Fabiani and his wife, Simonetta, have considered making an attack on the Paris stronghold and opening a salon. Now, Mr Capucci, who has long been recognised as a successful creator in Rome, is beating them to it. He will open his Paris salon at number 4 Rue Cambon, almost next door to Chanel. He has also engaged Josette Vidmer, Christian Dior’s private secretary and

more recently head press attache at the House of Dior, to handle all public relations. Mr Capucci works in close collaboration with his sister, Marcella. Together, they in. tend to create four major collections a year. Each season, the brother and sister will show entirely different collections of about 100 models in r-«h house in Rome and Paris. For the forthcoming French collection, the Italian designer has chosen almost all French fabrics, including many special prints made for him by the fabric firm of Hurel. and many specially-dyed French laces.

Mr Capucci’s style of designing has been described as “elaborately frivolous” and "highly sophisticated.” He likes stark, untrimmed clothes for daytime, and pure fantasy in formal and leisure wear. Throughout his 10-year career as a leading fashion creator, he has enjoyed a reputation for artistic colour sense, which pervades all his collections. Master Cutter

Mr Venet is the third designer who is being discussed at present in Paris. As Hubert de Givency’s first assistant for years, he is known as a master cutter of the tailored clothes in which he now intends to specialise on his own.

Mr Venet is a close personal friend of Mr Andre Courreges. the former Balenciaga assistant, who opened his own tiny salon last summer. Mr Courreges designs “in the school of Balenciaga” and scored an immediate success with professional buyers, although he refused to admit the press to his collection last season. Mr Venet intends to mould his first season on the pattern of Courreges. Mr Courreges intends to expand his business after his first successful venture, and is considering admitting the press to view his collection this month.