Emilie Louise Flöge (30 August 1874 – 26 May 1952) was an Austrian fashion designer and businesswoman. She was the life companion of the painter

Gustav Klimt Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d'art. Klimt's prim ...

Early life

Flöge was the fourth child of the master

turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters *Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for turni ...

and manufacturer of

Meerschaum Sepiolite, also known in English by the German name meerschaum ( , ; ; meaning "sea foam"), is a soft white clay mineral, often used to make tobacco pipes (known as meerschaum pipes). A complex magnesium silicate, a typical chemical formula for ...

pipes, Hermann Flöge (1837–1897). Emilie had two sisters, Pauline and Helene, and a brother, Hermann. Her first job was as a seamstress, but she later became a

couturière ''Haute couture'' (; ; French for 'high sewing', 'high dressmaking') is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design that is constructed by hand from start-to-finish. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Paris became th ...

. In 1894, Pauline, her elder sister, opened a dressmaking school and Emilie worked there. In 1899 the two sisters won a dressmaking competition and were commissioned to make a

batiste Cambric or batiste, is a fine dense cloth. It is a lightweight plain-weave fabric, originally from the commune of Cambrai (in present-day northern France), woven greige (neither bleached nor dyed), then bleached, piece-dyed, and often gl ...

dress for an exhibition.

Career

In partnership with her sister Helene, after 1904 Flöge established herself as a successful businesswoman and the owner of the

haute couture ''Haute couture'' (; ; French for 'high sewing', 'high dressmaking') is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design that is constructed by hand from start-to-finish. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Paris became th ...

fashion salon known as Schwestern Flöge (Flöge Sisters) in a major Viennese thoroughfare, the Mariahilfer Strasse. In this salon, which had been designed in the

Jugendstil ''Jugendstil'' ("Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German counterpart of ...

by the architect

Josef Hoffmann Josef Hoffmann (15 December 1870 – 7 May 1956) was an Austrian- Moravian architect and designer. He was among the founders of Vienna Secession and co-establisher of the Wiener Werkstätte. His most famous architectural work is the Stoclet P ...

, she presented designer clothing in the style of the

Wiener Werkstätte The Wiener Werkstätte (engl.: ''Vienna Workshop''), established in 1903 by the graphic designer and painter Koloman Moser, the architect Josef Hoffmann and the patron Fritz Waerndorfer, was a productive association in Vienna, Austria that bro ...

. Flöge designed bespoke garments, especially loose, patterned dresses in th
reform style
(a movement also called

Victorian dress reform Victorian dress reform was an objective of the Victorian dress reform movement (also known as the rational dress movement) of the middle and late Victorian era, led by various reformers who proposed, designed, and wore clothing considered more ...

). This style was promoted by the

feminist movement The feminist movement (also known as the women's movement, or feminism) refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for Radical politics, radical and Liberalism, liberal reforms on women's issues created by the inequality b ...

in Vienna and was characterized by high bodices, a loose silhouette, and billowing sleeves. It was thought that this type of dress was better for women's health and allowed for a greater range of movement. During her trips to London and Paris she familiarized herself with the latest fashion trends from

Coco Chanel Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel ( , ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with popularizing a sporty, c ...

and

Christian Dior Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE, which is now owned by parent company LVMH. His fashion houses a ...

, however, after the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

with the German

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

in 1938, Flöge lost her most important customers and had to close her salon, which had become the leading fashion venue for Viennese society. After 1938 she worked from the top floor of her home at 39 Ungargasse.

Association with Gustav Klimt

Emilie Flöge was a member of the Viennese

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

and

Fin de siècle () is a French term meaning "end of century,” a phrase which typically encompasses both the meaning of the similar English idiom "turn of the century" and also makes reference to the closing of one era and onset of another. Without context ...

circles. She was the life companion of the painter

. In 1891, Helene, one of Emilie's two older sisters, married Ernst Klimt, the brother of Gustav Klimt. When Ernst died in December 1892, Gustav was made Helene's guardian. At that time Emilie was eighteen years old and Gustav became a frequent guest at the home of her parents, spending the summers with the Flöge family at Lake Attersee. Numerous photographs document Klimt with Emilie and her family. The Kiss - Gustav Klimt - Google Cultural Institute

The Kiss - Gustav Klimt - Google Cultural Institute

After 1891, Klimt portrayed her in many of his works. Experts believe that his painting '' The Kiss'' (1907–08) shows the artist and Emilie Flöge as lovers. Klimt may have drawn some garments for the Flöge salon in the reform dress style, but this is frequently discounted in favor of the idea that the Flöge sisters designed the dresses themselves. The clientele for what was at that time a revolutionary fashion was too small to provide a living, however, and she earned money accordingly through conventional styles. Klimt was painting many women from the upper echelons of Viennese society and thus was able to introduce Emilie Flöge to a prosperous client base. Klimt died from a stroke on 11 January 1918. His last words reportedly were, "Emilie must come." She inherited half of Klimt's estate, the other half going to the painter's family. In the final days of the Second World War, her house in the Ungargasse caught fire, destroying not only her collection of garments, but also valuable objects from the estate of Gustav Klimt.

Death and Burial

Flöge sisters family grave, Vienna, 2018

Flöge died at the age of 77 in Vienna on 26 May 1952 and was buried in the Flöge-Donner family grave of the at the Evangelischer Friedhof in Vienna-Simmering on 30 May 1952. The cemetery authorities designated it as a celebrity grave and restored the tombstone for the 150th Anniversary Year of

. The grave is now included on their website.

Images

File:Klimt-Villa 2013 Kleid Salon Schwestern Flöge 1909 Rekonstruktion 01.jpg, Reconstruction after a dress from the fashion salon ''Schwestern Flöge'' (c. 1909) File:Klimt-Villa 2013 Badekleid Flöge 01.jpg, Bathing costume from the estate of Emilie Flöge File:Heinrich Böhler 1909 Emilie Flöge Gustav Klimt 001.jpg, Photogravure of Flöge in Schörfling am Attersee, taken by Heinrich Böhler, 1909. File:Heinrich Böhler 1909 Emilie Flöge Gustav Klimt 003.jpg, Flöge and Klimt in Schörfling am Attersee, taken by Heinrich Böhler, 1909.

References and sources