Alongside Caroline Reboux, she was one of the two most famous hat designers in Paris during the second half of the 19th-century.
She was one of the favorite designers of the empress of France, Eugénie de Montijo.
The empress, who was a major fashion icon of the time, had favorite designers who attended different parts of her wardrobe.
[1] The fashions of the empress were copied all over the world, and benefitted the careers of her favorite designers.
Because of the patronage of the empress, Madame Virot was able to establish her own studio at the Rue de la Paix nr 12 at Champs-Élysées in Paris in 1860.