House of Worth

House of Worth

The House of Worth was a leading Paris haute couture firm, established by Charles Frederick Worth, called the 'father of haute couture' and continued by his sons.

Charles Worth was raised in Bourne, Lincolnshire, and apprenticed as a draper in London for six years at Swan and Edgars, which specialized in fine wools and silks. In 1845, at the age of twenty-one, he set out to find his fortune in Paris. He became an assistant draper at Maison Gagelin at 83 Rue Richelieu, where he was to remain for over ten years, rising to "premier commis". Among his innovations was the introduction of ready-made muslin dress samples from which patrons could choose a style; he would then match the choice to an appropriate fabric.

At Gagelin's he met Marie Vernet, a "demoiselle de maison" who demonstrated the features of the cloths as draped on a moving woman. They were attracted to each other very early on, but owing to their limited incomes they did not marry until May 21st, 1851. This was just six weeks after the Great Exhibition opened at the Crystal Palace in London. Maison Gagelin showed several of Worth's designs there and although they caused great consternation in their departure from current fashion Gagelin was awarded a gold medal for France.

Charles and Marie had two sons, Gaston and Jean-Phillipe. It was exhausting for Marie to live far away from her employers' and have the children cared for by hired help. Worth opened his own gallery at 7 rue de la Paix in 1858.

His sons, Gaston-Lucien (1853–1924) and Jean-Philippe (1856–1926), took over their father's business following his death in 1895 and succeeded in maintaining his high standards. The house flourished during the sons' tenure and into the 1920s. The great fashion dynasty finally came to an end in 1952 when Charles Frederick Worth's great-grandson, Jean-Charles (1881–1962), retired from the family business. In 1954, the House merged with Paquin. Then in 1956 was closed.

External links

* [http://www.worthparis.com Worth Paris]
* [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/wrth/hd_wrth.htm Charles Worth and the House of Worth]


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