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Just as the full scope of her work
remains little known, Madame Grès herself is a mysterious figure in fashion
history. Perpetually swathed in a turban, Madame Grès lived up to her
nickname, the “Sphinx of Fashion,” and has been described as an “Abbess
riding in a Mercedes.” Private and secretive, she was “more Garbo than
Garbo” – in stark contrast to her work, which was clear and pure and
accessible. Her influence has been great and her innovations have earned
unparalleled respect, but the details of her life are muddled and confusing.
Born Germaine Emilie Krebs in Paris on November 30, 1903, she claimed to
have studied art, and to have had hopes of becoming a sculptor. Dissuaded by
her bourgeois family, however, she took up the craft of dressmaking. At some
point in the early 1930s, she renamed herself “Alix” and appropriated the
last name “Barton” from an early employer and business partner. In 1937, she
married a Russian artist who signed his paintings “Grès” and that was the
name she chose to use when she opened her own couture house. Her business
prospered and she became a wealthy woman, until, decades later, poor
management and the sale of her company led to its closure in 1988. She died
penniless one week before her ninetieth birthday.
More important than her personal history is her legacy. The last of the
“Golden Age” couturiers, Grès did not sketch or leave the technical process
to assistants, nor did she promote herself or rely on stylists to create her
image. She crafted her public persona by means of omission, hiding many
details of her life, so that what remains is not the memory of a celebrity
but an extraordinary, living body of work. The slow and meticulous evolution
of her style, her embrace of the female form, and her love of craft have
given us enduring objects of sublime beauty and refinement that transcend
time.
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