Pierre Balmain

“I do not remember a time when I was not interested in dress design and the intriguing play of materials against the feminine form,” said Pierre Balmain. His fashion career began with the sale of three sketches to Piguet. He worked as an assistant at Molyneux from 1934 until 1938, crediting the designer as a mentor. Balmain did not hold the same esteem for his next employer, Lucien Lelong, whom he called “no more than a dealer in dresses.” From 1941 until 1945, he and fellow designer Christian Dior were responsible for the design of Lelong’s collections. During that period, Balmain’s most successful design was a black crepe afternoon dress called “Little Profit”—a design that he later referred to as “big profit.”

Balmain opened his own house in 1945, with his premier runway show famously attended by friends Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. During the following decade, Balmain’s designs flattered the womanly hourglass figure so prominent during the 1950s, and he began to use the trademark name “Jolie Madame” in reference to his collections.

During its mid-century heyday, the House of Balmain was noted for fine tailored daywear, along with ultra-feminine evening gowns. Harper’s Bazaar editor Carmel Snow reportedly told the Fashion Group in 1946 that Balmain’s were the “most feminine clothes in the world.” (Despite such praise, the often-temperamental Balmain admitted to once banning Mrs. Snow from his House for a season.)