Lanvin at 125: Marie-Blanche de Polignac

Vogue 1120 by Lanvin, Vogue, October 1950. Photo: Richard Rutledge.

This week, the second post in my series on Lanvin sewing patterns. (See my post on Jeanne Lanvin’s interwar patterns here.)

Born Marguerite di Pietro, Marie-Blanche de Polignac (1897-1958) was the only child of Jeanne Lanvin and her first husband, Italian aristocrat Emilio di Pietro. Marie-Blanche (who is sometimes called the Comtesse Jean de Polignac) was director of Lanvin from her mother’s death in 1946 until the appointment of Antonio del Castillo in 1950.

1940s

From the earliest Vogue Paris Originals, Vogue 1052 is an elegant, short-sleeved dress with a waistcoat effect:

Vogue 1052 by Lanvin (1949) Image via eBay.

Clifford Coffin photographed the dress in Paris for Vogue magazine:

Lanvin pattern Vogue 1052 in Vogue, March 1949. Photo: Clifford Coffin.

According to Vogue, this strapless evening dress design was “sketched by David in Paris.” The…