BEHIND THE SEAMS: Behind every boldface couture name in fashion history, there are the female workers who are “everything that fashion never shows,” wrote authors, Sophie Kurkdjian, a historian, and Sandrine Tinturier, an archivist, in the introduction of “Au Coeur des Maisons de Couture” (or Inside Couture).
Or rather, that the patriarchal society of the time would rather didn’t exist, explained Kurkdjian.
The idea for this 216-page essay came after curator Olivier Saillard invited them to contribute to his 2019 “Le Bouquin de la Mode” anthology, remembered Tinturier.
“Initially, we wanted to write about forgotten couture houses. One thing led to the next, and we ended up writing about the ‘little hands’ behind couture,” she said.
But their 30-page contribution only led them to realize how little representation there was of the workers behind a thriving industry, especially between the rise of couture in the 1880s and the post-WWII advent of ready-to-wear in 1950.
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“There aren’t many books on this fundamental subject. I’m glad we can celebrate this collective enterprise called atelier, fashion house or studio, whichever you prefer,” said Saillard at an evening at the Fondation Azzedine Alaïa celebrating the book and Saint Catherine, the patron saint of lace-makers, milliners, couture — and spinsters.
Throughout the essay, the pair sought to pick apart the image of fragile and overly sexualized seamstresses often portrayed in literature of the time. Instead, female couture workers emerge as strong women who want to be free and even form “the forgotten avant-garde of the proletariat,” based on historical documents, including employment records of Chanel, Lanvin and other couture houses.
“We wanted to show that they were workers who fought for their rights, their pay, their working conditions, risking their livelihoods or police brutality. They went on strike and obtained rights that escaped their male counterparts — like a paid half-day off per week — despite not being allowed a seat at trade unions because they were female,” said Tinturier.
For anyone finding the topic too remote or academic, Kurkdjian concluded: “giving back space to individuals in fashion, shining a light on those behind the scenes and just the idea that behind a garment there are women — and men — is of our time.”