Rose Bertin, the creator of haute couture (1/2)

2024-02-19T04:11:27.768Z

Highlights: Rose Bertin, the creator of haute couture (1/2). Marie-Antoinette’s “Minister of Fashion” dictates the latest clothing trends from her boutique, “Au Grand Mogol”. All of Versailles is snapping up its creations! In a new story in two parts, Virginie Girod lets you discover the destiny of the woman who invented fashion. Rose Bertin's real first name is actually Marie-Jeanne. But 19th century historiographers renamed it Rose, for greater glamour.

France is the country of haute couture. But do you know its creator, Rose Bertin? Marie-Antoinette’s “Minister of Fashion” dictates the latest clothing trends from her boutique, “Au Grand Mogol”. All of Versailles is snapping up its creations! In a new story in two parts, Virginie Girod lets you discover the destiny of the woman who invented fashion. Rose Bertin's real first name is actually Marie-Jeanne. But 19th century historiographers renamed it Rose, for greater glamour. Born in Picardy in 1747, her career seems clear-cut: since the intervention of Colbert, the minister of Louis XIV, the region has developed its activity around fabric manufacturing and sewing. But Rose will not be a simple seamstress. She is entrusted to one of her aunts, a fashion merchant, who does not make the dresses as such, but makes and puts all the “decorations” on the clothes. A hard and gifted worker, Rose Bertin is hired in the boutique "Le Trait Galant" which supplies the Parisian aristocracy. She carried out prestigious orders there, such as the wedding dress of the Princess of Chartres. It was through the latter that Rose Bertin met Marie-Antoinette. Between the queen and the fashion merchant, it is love at first sight. Together, they will invent fashion. Usually, it is the favorites who impose their styles on the court. This time, Marie-Antoinette will become Rose Bertin's star model, and her first client! Soon, all the women of the court flocked to his shop, “Au Grand Mogol”, to imitate him. And since Rose has business sense, she inflates her prices. To the point of impacting France's finances. A new story that Virginie Girod also tells you in the pages of Madame Figaro, on newsstands on February 23. https://madame.lefigaro.fr