Herminie Cadolle, the anarchist who invented the bra [2/2]

Creator of the modern bra, Herminie Cadolle first distinguished herself as a communarde! Virginie Girod tells you the rest of her story.  

His commitment earned him several confrontations with the police. Imprisoned following the Commune, Herminie denounces one of her jailers, Lieutenant Marcerou. He is a violent man who mistreated detainees far beyond what the law and justice allow. He beats children and rapes women. For the people of Versailles, supporters of the Third Republic, this testimony is revenge for the Communards. The administrative investigation collapses.  

Herminie Cadolle will bounce back in an unexpected way. She left for Argentina, then in full economic growth. The lingerie store she opens there works well, but the revolutionary is never far away... Herminie takes a pair of scissors and cuts her corset below the chest. The resulting piece can support the chest if straps are added. Above all, the lungs and stomach are finally freed! To publicize her creation, which she called the corselet-gorge, the corsetiere returned to France and participated in the Universal Exhibition of 1889. The queen of the event, however, would be the Eiffel Tower. But Herminie Cadolle persisted, she filed a patent and even won the bronze medal at the 1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris. This is the beginning of success! Herminie Cadolle opens a boutique on rue Cambon and employs several dozen workers. The communarde has become a business leader!  

A new story that Virginie Girod also tells you in the pages of Madame Figaro, on newsstands on March 29. https://madame.lefigaro.fr    

Themes covered: Commune, Universal Exhibition, Third Republic, bra 

“At the heart of history” is a Europe 1 Studio podcast

- Presentation: Virginie Girod 

- Production: Caroline Garnier

- Director: Clément Ibrahim

- Composition of the original music: Julien Tharaud 

- Writing and Distribution: Nathan Laporte

- Communication: Marie Corpet

- Visual: Sidonie Mangin

Online Resources

https://www.francetvinfo.fr/replay-magazine/france-2/20h30-le-samedi/video-herminie-cadolle-communarde-et-feministe-presente-le-premier-soutien-gorge-al-exposition- universal-of-1889_4024163.html 

https://gallica.bnf.fr/blog/14022022/sens-dessus-deux-lhistoire-du-soutien-gorge-de-la-fin-du-xixeme-aux-annees-1950?mode=desktop 

https://www.retronews.fr/societe/echo-de-presse/2016/07/01/la-femme-qui-inventa-le-soutien-gorge-moderne 

https://www.commune1871.org/la-commune-de-paris/histoire-de-la-commune/illustres-communards/560-la-saga-familiale-des-cadolle 

https://www.cadolle.com/fr/content/14-notre-histoire