Madame Grès

[1] Remembered as the "Sphinx of Fashion", Grès was notoriously secretive about her personal life and was seen as a workaholic with a furious attention to detail, preferring to let her work do the talking.

[2] Grès's minimalistic draping techniques and her attention to and respect for the female body[5] have had a lasting effect on the haute couture and fashion industry, inspiring a number of recent designers.

[8] Grès originally dreamed of becoming a sculptor, but after many objections made by her family she shifted her interests towards the art of fashion design and clothing making.

[6] Grès's first job in the industry of fashion was as a woman's hat maker, where she excelled, until she began focusing on couture dressmaking.

[6] While operating her haute couture fashion house under the name Alix, she first gained positive attention and critical acclaim for designing costumes for Jean Giraudoux's 1935 play, "The Trojan War Will Not Take Place".

During the war, German forces demanded that Madame Grès design bleak and utilitarian clothing which was in complete contrast to her entire collection.

Wives of German officers also requested Grès to design dresses for them, despite the fact that she was Jewish; she refused, and one of her gowns from this period features two small Stars of David sewn on the inside.

[8] Consequentially, German forces ordered Grès's haute couture fashion house to be closed, claiming her generous use of fabric during wartime as their reason.

[1] In 1970, Grès strayed away from her signature draping style and highlighted naked flesh via constructing vertical peek-a-boo openings in the bodice.

Due to poor business dealings regarding the licensing of her signature perfume, Cabochard, Madame Grès lost the fortune that she worked six decades to build, leaving her living in poverty.