an old letter and a piece of paper on a white surface
Maître Paul PASTAUD

701 - [Madeleine VIONNET & Jeanne LANVIN Houses]. Set of two lette…
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Estimate €200 - €300
Sale commission
Description
[Madeleine VIONNET & Jeanne LANVIN Houses]. Set of two letters: - Original handwritten letter from Managing Director Armand Trouyet to workshop manager Marcelle Chaumont, dated 23 August 1934, 1 p. and ½ in-4, written on paper bearing the beautiful, colour-illustrated letterhead of the Madeleine VIONNET fashion house, in response to a request for information regarding clients’ addresses; he concludes by referring to the commercial difficulties, quoting Coco Chanel: ‘[…] business is becoming increasingly difficult; people are gradually becoming poorer. We must wait for “the miracle”, for Gabrielle to intercede with the gods so that they may come to our aid. Best regards and warm thoughts to the gang at the party’. - Autograph letter signed by a director or employee of the Lanvin fashion house, undated (c. 1954, which mentions the health problems of Jacques Fath, who died of leukaemia in November 1954), 2 pp. in-8, a fine letter on the transformations of the fashion market in the era of the New Look and the tensions between ready-to-wear and haute couture: "[...] it is no longer couture that needs to be reinvented, but elegance, and I fear that modern times are coming to terms with this in very different ways [...] despite everything, we struggle, we sketch, we invent [...] boutiques are gaining in importance; certain couturiers are experimenting with varying degrees of success – Dior, Fath [...] Ricci – all trends aimed at democratising couture, on the assumption that the union of these two words might produce offspring that are not monsters [...] no one is practising their own craft any more; couture wants to become ready-to-wear, and ready-to-wear wants to become couture [...] Ours can still survive, in my view—yes—but in a different way: as a laboratory, as a maker of prototypes, and for the enjoyment of a small number of wealthy young people, because prototypes are expensive [...] the future of haute couture as we know it lies in the recognition of copyright [...]”
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About the sale MONTIGNAC – 31st BOOK SALE – Day 2 of 4 – Nos. 550 to 1084
Auction location
Auction time 08/20/2026 at 11:00 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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