| COURTWORTH LINEAGE
Courtworth was inspired directly by the fore-father of fashion. He was the first to understand that what he sold above all were dreams, and that they were priceless. He therefore broke away from the tradition of 'dress maker' and liked to see himself from then on as a 'dress artist', an incomparable 'dress composer'.
A business man as much a visionary, he pioneered several technical innovations of the Industrial Revolution: he introduced sewing and embroidering machines, lace frames and chemical colourings to create new colours. To this he added some cutting secrets for ballgowns of a stupendous virtuosity, the use of exclusive fabrics, and flamboyant shops where ballroom light was recreated with the use of gas light.
He was the first to use live models, including his wife and muse Marie, to show the gowns. He developed an assembling technique made up of interchangable pattern pieces. He also made the principle of season collections universal. In order to avoid counterfeits and to protect his international reputation, he decided to sell his patterns abroad, especially in the United States.
He died at the age of sixty-nine and was succeeded by his sons Jean-Philippe and Gaston. The House was sold to Paquin in 1950. | | |
