Rose Bertin, “Minister of Fashion” to Marie-Antoinette
( hand-colored plate by G. Ripart).
From the book, Un Ministre des Modes sous Louis XVI, Mademoiselle Bertin: Marchande de Modes de la Reine, 1743-1813. By Pierre de Nouvion amd Emile Liez, illustrated by G. Ripart. Published by Henri Leclerc, Paris. 1911.
Bertin saw her creations in fabric as art, and her prices reflected the idea that she was selling wearable art, not just a day dress or a ball gown. She contributed to how extravagant fashion in the decades before the French Revolution had become, as Bertin was clothing all the royalty of Europe, not just the French- her reputation was international. Rose Bertin, the world’s first acclaimed fashion designer!
(via vivelareine)
