Caricature of Jacques Doucet by Leonetto Cappiello, 1903

Jacques Doucet () (1853–1929) was a French fashion designer and art collector. He is known for his elegant dresses, made with flimsy translucent materials in superimposing pastel colors.

Life

Doucet was born in Paris in 1853 to a prosperous family whose

lingerie Lingerie (, , ) is a category of primarily women's clothing including undergarments (mainly brassieres), sleepwear, and lightweight robes. The choice of the word is often motivated by an intention to imply that the garments are alluring, fash ...

and

linens Linens are fabric household goods intended for daily use, such as bedding, tablecloths, and towels. "Linens" may also refer to church linens, meaning the altar cloths used in church. History The earliest known household linens were made f ...

business, Doucet Lingerie, had flourished in the

Rue de la Paix The rue de la Paix (English: Peace Street) () is a fashionable shopping street in the center of Paris. Located in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, running north from Place Vendôme and ending at the Opéra Garnier, it is best known for its jew ...

since 1816. In 1871, Doucet opened a salon selling ladies' apparel. An enthusiastic collector of eighteenth-century furniture,

objets d'art In art history, the French term Objet d’art describes an ornamental work of art, and the term Objets d’art describes a range of works of art, usually small and three-dimensional, made of high-quality materials, and a finely-rendered finish th ...

paintings Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

, and sculptures, many of his gowns were strongly influenced by this opulent era. Beginning in 1912, the fashions of Jacques Doucet were illustrated in the fashion magazine ''

La Gazette du Bon Ton The ''Gazette du Bon Ton'' was a small but influential fashion magazine published in France from 1912 to 1925.Davis48 Founded by Lucien Vogel, the short-lived publication reflected the latest developments in fashion, lifestyle and beauty during a ...

'' with six other leading Paris designers of the day –

Louise Chéruit Madame Louise Chéruit (1866-1955), born Louise Lemaire, often erroneously called Mme Madeleine Chéruit, was among the foremost couturiers of her generation, and one of the first women to control a major French fashion house. Her salon operated ...

Georges Doeuillet Georges Camille Doeuillet was born 16 July 1865 in Oise, Northern France.Ancestry.com. Paris & Vicinity, France Electoral Rolls, 1891 atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: Archives électorales: Electe ...

Jeanne Paquin Jeanne Paquin () (1869–1936) was a leading French fashion designer, known for her resolutely modern and innovative designs. She was the first major female couturier and one of the pioneers of the modern fashion business. Early life Jeanne P ...

Paul Poiret Paul Poiret (20 April 1879 – 30 April 1944, Paris, France) was a French fashion designer, a master couturier during the first two decades of the 20th century. He was the founder of his namesake haute couture house. Early life and care ...

, Redfern & Sons, and the House of

Charles Worth Charles Frederick Worth (13 October 1825 – 10 March 1895) was an English fashion designer who founded the House of Worth, one of the foremost fashion houses of the 19th and early 20th centuries. He is considered by many fashion historians to ...

. His most original designs were those he created for actresses of the time. Cécile Sorel, Rejane and Sarah Bernhardt (for whom he designed her famous white costume in L'Aiglon) all often wore his outfits, both on and off the stage. For the aforementioned actresses he reserved a particular

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

, one which consisted of frills, sinuous curving lines and

lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is divided into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

ruffles the colors of faded flowers. Doucet was a designer of taste and discrimination who valued dignity and luxury above novelty and practicality, and gradually faded from popularity during the 1920s. Several years after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, in 1927, Cubists

Joseph Csaky Joseph Csaky (also written Josef Csàky, Csáky József, József Csáky and Joseph Alexandre Czaky) (18 March 1888 – 1 May 1971) was a Hungarian avant-garde artist, sculptor, and graphic arts, graphic artist, best known for his early partici ...

Jacques Lipchitz Jacques Lipchitz (26 May 1973) was a Cubist sculptor. Lipchitz retained highly figurative and legible components in his work leading up to 1915–16, after which naturalist and descriptive elements were muted, dominated by a synthetic style of ...

Louis Marcoussis Louis Marcoussis, formerly Ludwik Kazimierz Wladyslaw Markus or Ludwig Casimir Ladislas Markus, (1878 or 1883, Łódź – October 22, 1941, Cusset) was a painter and engraver of Polish origin who lived in Paris for much of his life and became ...

Henri Laurens Henri Laurens (February 18, 1885 – May 5, 1954) was a French sculptor and illustrator. Early life and education Born in Paris, Henri Laurens worked as a stonemason before he became a sculptor. From 1899 to 1902, he attended drawing class ...

, the sculptor

Gustave Miklos Gustave Miklos, also written Gusztáv Miklós and Miklós Gusztáv (30 June 1888, in Budapest – 5 March 1967, in Oyonnax) was a sculptor, painter, illustrator and designer of Hungarian origin. An influential sculptor involved with Cubism and e ...

, and others collaborated in the decoration of a Studio House, rue Saint-James, Neuilly-sur-Seine. The ''hôtel particulier'', owned by Doucet was designed by the architect Paul Ruaud. Laurens designed the fountain, Csaky designed Doucet's staircase, Lipchitz made the fireplace mantel and Marcoussis created a Cubist rug.

Legacy

A collector of art and literature throughout his life, by the time of his death he had a collection of Post-Impressionist and

Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

paintings, including ''

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon ''Les Demoiselles d'Avignon'' (''The Young Ladies of Avignon'', originally titled ''The Brothel of Avignon'') is a large oil painting created in 1907 by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. The work, part of the permanent collection of the Museum o ...

'', which he bought direct from Picasso's studio, as well as two major book collections which he donated to the French nation. Doucet's collection of art books and research, which he gave to the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

in 1917, became the core of the university's Institut d'Art et d'Archéologie and was eventually transferred to the Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art in 2003. At his death in 1929, his collection of manuscripts by contemporary writers for which the University created in his honour the Bibliothèque littéraire Jacques-Doucet. Francois Chapon wrote a book titled ''C'etait Jacques Doucet'' about the life and work of the fashion designer. File:Jacques Doucet's hôtel particulier, 33 rue Saint-James, Neuilly-sur-Seine, 1929 photograph Pierre Legrain.jpg, Jacques Doucet's hôtel particulier, 33 rue Saint-James, Neuilly-sur-Seine, 1929. Image:Jacques Doucet's hôtel particulier stairs, 33 rue Saint-James, Neuilly-sur-Seine, 1929 photograph by Pierre Legrain.jpg, Jacques Doucet's hôtel particulier, 33 rue Saint-James, Neuilly-sur-Seine, 1929.

References

External links

*
Bibliothèque littéraire Jacques Doucet (in French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doucet, Jacques 1853 births 1929 deaths Fashion designers from Paris Collectors from Paris