Ren Gruau

Before photography became the primary medium for marketing fashion, there was Ren Gruau with his pens, brushes, watercolours, and inks. Beginning in 1940 when he helped create the Miss Dior campaign, and for more than two decades, Gruau was at the forefront of fashion design. In addition to his long and fruitful partnership with Dior this book features sublime reproductions of Gruaus work with luxury designers such as Givenchy, Balmain, Balenciaga, Lacroix, and Schiaparelli. It looks at the artistic influencesfrom Toulouse-Lautrec to Kabuki theatrethat shaped his use of pigment and line and demonstrates how, with just a few strokes and a splash of colour, he managed to capture the perfection of a womans hat, or make tangible a perfumes alluring scent. A gorgeous introduction to French fashions golden age, this definitive volume is also an indispensable reference for anyone interested in fashion design, haute couture, and commercial illustration.