Marie-Louise Bruyère

[2] Before Bruyère opened her haute couture house in 1928, she learned her trade from Callot Soeurs and Jeanne Lanvin.

[4] An early collection in 1930 established Bruyère as comparable to Schiaparelli, Alix, Rochas and Mainbocher,[1] with her coats and tailored suits proving a particular strength.

[5] In August 1932 Fortune noted that her designs were rather more successful with Americans than with the French, who did not visit Bruyère's shop on the Rue de Mondovi.

[7] After the war ended, Bruyère was not a supporter of the full-skirted New Look as popularised by Christian Dior, instead offering extremely simple, slim-line dresses and suits with plunging necklines in 1951.

[9] She came to an agreement in 1951 with the Baron-Peters dress firm in the United States to reproduce her designs for the American medium-priced ready-to-wear market, carefully emphasising that the designs were pure replicas of her Paris collection, and not "whipped up for American tastes.