Solange Marie Christine Louise de Labriffe, Duchess of Ayen (5 April 1898 – 3 November 1976), known professionally as Solange d'Ayen, Solange de Noailles, and Solange de Labriffe, was a French

noblewoman A noblewoman is a female member of the nobility. Noblewomen form a disparate group, which has evolved over time. Ennoblement of women has traditionally been a rare occurrence; the majority of noblewomen were linked to the nobility by either their ...

and journalist, known for being the

fashion editor A fashion editor is a person that supervises the process of creating, developing and presenting content for the fashion department of a magazine, Web site, newspaper or television program. The work of a fashion editor can be quite varied and may h ...

of French ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

'' magazine from the 1920s until the 1940s. She also wrote for American ''Vogue''. She was born into the and was named Duchess of Ayen by marrying Jean Maurice Paul Jules de Noailles, the 6th Duke of Ayen in 1919, with whom she had two children. She survived two years of imprisonment under the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

in occupied France after being arrested by the Nazis in 1942. She died in Paris on 3 November 1976 at the age of 78.

Early life

Solange Marie Christine Louise de Labriffe was born in

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...

, in northern France, on 5 April 1898. Born into the House of Labriffe, her father was Camille, Count of Labriffe, and her mother was Countess Anne-Marie Vassart d'Hozier. She had an older sister, Marie de Labriffe (1893–1985).

Career

In the late 1920s, Solange started working as a fashion consultant and later became the fashion editor of French ''

'' magazine under the name Solange de Noailles. By October 1928, she was signing her articles as Solange d'Ayen. She also wrote for American ''Vogue''. Irish journalist

Carmel Snow Carmel Snow (born Carmel White; 21 August 1887 – 7 May 1961) was the editor-in-chief of the American edition of ''Harper's Bazaar'' from 1934 to 1958; and the chair of the magazine's editorial board. She was famously quoted as saying, "Ele ...

, who was working for ''Vogue'' at that time, said of Solange: "she was the person I most wanted at that time to fashion myself on". Solange was well-connected in the Paris social circle known as "" and introduced Snow to several members of the Paris elite. In 1935, she helped ''Vogue'' editor-in-chief

Edna Woolman Chase Edna Woolman Chase (; March 14, 1877 – March 21, 1957) was an American who served as editor-in-chief of '' Vogue'' magazine from 1914 to 1952. Early life Chase was born on March 14, 1877, in Asbury Park, New Jersey. She was the daughter of F ...

persuade French painter

Christian Bérard Christian Bérard (20 August 1902 – 11 February 1949), also known as Bebè, was a French artist, fashion illustrator and designer. Bérard and his lover Boris Kochno, who worked for the Ballets Russes and was also co-founder of the Ballet ...

– a close friend of hers – to work for the magazine as a fashion illustrator. She worked as a fashion editor of French ''Vogue'' until the 1940s. In 1949, she was managing the fashion house of Robert Piguet. In 1951, she became an editor of magazine. Towards the end of her life, she was known as Solange de Labriffe.

Personal life

Solange married Jean Maurice Paul Jules de Noailles, the 6th Duke of Ayen, on 16 June 1919 and was named Duchess of Ayen. They lived at the

Château de Maintenon The Château de Maintenon () is a ''château'', developed from the original castle, situated in the ''Communes of France, commune'' of Maintenon in the Eure-et-Loir ''Departments of France, département'' of France. It is best known as being the ...

and had two children; a daughter, Geneviève Hélène Anne Marie Yolande de Noailles (1921–1998), and a son, Adrien Maurice Edmond Marie Camille de Noailles (1925–1944), a soldier who died in Rupt-sur-Moselle during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

at the age of 19. She was a close friend of several artists such as French fashion designer

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

, Swiss fashion designer Robert Piguet, French painter

, and American photographer

Lee Miller Elizabeth "Lee" Miller, Lady Penrose (April 23, 1907 – July 21, 1977), was an American photographer and photojournalist. Miller was a fashion model in New York City in the 1920s before going to Paris, becoming a fashion and fine-art pho ...

. Her husband, Jean de Noailles, was a member of the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

during World War II and was arrested by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

on 22 January 1942, as a result of an anonymous denunciation. He died at the

Bergen-Belsen concentration camp Bergen-Belsen (), or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in Northern Germany, northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen, Lower Saxony, Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, ...

on 14 April 1945, a few days before the end of the war. Solange was also arrested by the Nazis in 1942 and sent to the Fresnes Prison, while her family and friends such as Miller were unaware of what had happened to her. Solange was said to be "a shadow of herself" when Miller found her after the war. In 1952, the Paris military court sentenced Suzanne Provost, a Gestapo collaborator accused of having denounced Jean de Noailles, to 20 years of imprisonment. In 1954, Solange formally accused SS officer

Helmut Knochen Helmut Herbert Christian Heinrich Knochen (March 14, 1910 – April 4, 2003) was the senior commander of the ''Sicherheitspolizei'' (Security Police) and '' Sicherheitsdienst'' in occupied France during World War II. He was sentenced to death ...

of having kidnapped her husband. Knochen was sentenced to death by a Parisian military tribunal in 1954, but was later pardoned by President de Gaulle and released in 1962. French fashion designer

Hubert de Givenchy Hubert James Marcel Taffin de Givenchy (; 20 February 1927 – 10 March 2018) was a French fashion designer who founded the luxury fashion and perfume house of Givenchy in 1952. He is famous for having designed much of the personal and professi ...

, who had met Solange while he was working as an apprentice of Robert Piguet, described her as a "great beauty", who had "classic taste", and said that she always wore black because she had lost her husband and son in the war.

Death

Solange died in Paris at the age of 78 on 3 November 1976. She was buried at the

in France.

In popular culture

In 1939, French composer

Francis Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include mélodie, songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among th ...

dedicated his song " Fleurs" to Solange. In 2023, Solange was portrayed by French actress

Marion Cotillard Marion Cotillard (; born 30 September 1975) is a French actress who has appeared in both European and Hollywood productions. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Marion Cotillard, various accolades, including an Ac ...

in the Lee Miller biopic ''

Lee Lee may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lee'' (2007 film), Tamil-language sports action film * ''Lee'' (2017 film), Kannada-language action film * ''Lee'' (2023 film), biographical drama about Lee Miller, American photojournalist * ''L ...

'', directed by American filmmaker

Ellen Kuras Ellen Kuras (born July 10, 1959) is an American cinematographer whose work includes narrative and documentary films, music videos and commercials in both the studio and independent worlds. One of few female members of the American Society of Cin ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:d'Ayen, Solange 1898 births 1976 deaths People from Amiens House of Noailles Fashion editors French duchesses by marriage 20th-century French nobility 20th-century French women writers 20th-century French journalists 20th-century French women journalists Nazi concentration camp survivors French prisoners of war in World War II French women magazine editors French magazine editors Vogue (magazine) editors Vogue France