ART PORTFOLIO PROJECT: RESEARCH: JACQUES FATH

Jacques Fath

 Jacques Fath

'Jacques Fath was a French fashion designer who was considered one of the three dominant influences on postwar haute couture, the others being Christian Dior and Pierre Balmain' (FMD, n.d.).

Jacques Fath was born in France in 1912. Fashion has always run in his blood, but his father wanted him to work in the insurance brokerage business. However, his artistic soul, shaped mainly by his mother painter and grandmothers dressmaker, outweighed his father's will.

Fath debuted his first couture collection in 1937, working out of a two-room salon on Rue de la Boetie, Paris. His clothing was very popular in post-war Paris and in the United States as well. Two years later, the designer wed Geneviève Boucher, a model and former secretary to Coco Chanel. 

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Jacques Fath was a self-taught designer. He learned from books and museum visits. The interesting fact is that Fath hired designers such as Hubert de Givenchy, Guy Laroche, and Valentino Garavani, who later went to form their own houses. 

Vogue noticed the potential in Fath and reported the first time about him in the 1940s: “He is inspired. He has a vision. He will succeed.” 

Jacques Fath was known for his designs that exalted the female figure.

'Jacques finds his first successes, using yards of tartan (which he did to mock the germans occupiers) and designing a number of tunic dresses and peasant skirts, suitable for women riding bikes, which were feminine and sporty at the same time.' (A.G. Nauta Couture, 2013)

Parisian couturier ones said: “Fifty years from now, Parisian women will no longer have hips; their bosoms will diminish. Tomorrow’s woman will be an eternal little girl; there will be no place for the mature woman.” (around 1950)

In 1954, Jacques Fath dies of leukaemia, only 42 years old.

References:

The FMD-FashionModelDirectory.com Jacques Fath. [Online] Fashionmodeldirectory.com. Available from: https://www.fashionmodeldirectory.com/designers/jacques-fath/ [Accessed 02/11/21].

The Museum at FIT - Online Collections. [Online] Fitnyc.edu. Available from: http://fashionmuseum.fitnyc.edu/view/people/asitem/items$0040:592/0?t:state:flow=72309572-4996-4a29-8d2c-c7071ae2914f [Accessed 02/11/21].

Jacques Fath Muses Throughout History. (2019) [Online] Crfashionbook.com. Available from: https://www.crfashionbook.com/fashion/g28494694/jacques-fath-muses-eva-peron-dovima/ [Accessed 02/11/21].

Jacques Fath, Self-Taught Fashion Designer. (2013) [Online] Agnautacouture.com. Available from: https://agnautacouture.com/2013/05/05/jacques-fath-self-taught-fashion-designer/ [Accessed 02/11/21].