Jeanne Lanvin was born in Paris on 1 January 1867, the eldest of 11 children of Constantin Lanvin and Sophie Deshayes. She became an apprentice milliner at Madame Félix in Paris at the age of 16 and trained with Suzanne Talbot before becoming a milliner on the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in 1889.
Career
In 1909, Lanvin joined the Syndicat de la Couture, which marked her formal status as a couturière. The clothing Lanvin made for her daughter began to attract the attention of a number of wealthy people who requested copies for their own children. Soon, Lanvin was making dresses for their mothers, and some of the most famous names in Europe were included in the clientele of her new boutique on the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Paris. , 1922 From 1923, the Lanvin empire included a dye factory in Nanterre. In the 1920s, Lanvin opened shops devoted to home décor, menswear, furs and lingerie. However, her most significant expansion was the creation of Lanvin Parfums SA in 1924 and the introduction of her signature fragrance, Arpège, in 1927, inspired by the sound of her daughter Marguerite practicing her scales on the piano. In 1922, Lanvin collaborated with celebrated French designer Armand-Albert Rateau in redesigning her apartment, her homes and her businesses. For this domicile, Rateau designed some remarkable 1920–22 furniture in bronze. The pair developed a friendship, and Rateau came aboard Lanvin's empire as manager of Lanvin-Sport, also designing the Lanvin spherical La Boule perfume flacon'' for Arpège. To this day, Arpège perfume containers are imprinted with Paul Iribe's gold image of Lanvin and her daughter Marguerite. Rateau also managed Lanvin-Décoration in the main store on the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.
In 1895, Lanvin married Count Emilio di Pietro, an Italian nobleman, and two years later gave birth to a daughter, Marguerite . The couple's only child, Marguerite di Pietro became an opera singer, married the Count Jean de Polignac, and became, on the death of her mother, the director of the Lanvin fashion house. Lanvin and di Pietro divorced in 1903. Lanvin's second husband, whom she married in 1907, was Xavier Melet, a journalist at the newspaper Les Temps and later the French consul in Manchester, England. Lanvin died on 6 July 1946. Her original office is preserved in Lanvin's corporate offices at 16 Rue Boissy d’Anglas in Paris.
