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Edward Molyneux was an Irishman of Huguenot
ancestry. He never exaggerated, always maintained sight of the elegant
heights to which couture could soar. He was the designer to whom a
fashionable woman would turn in the 20's and 30's when she wanted to be
absolutely "right" and not predictable. He mixed with the aristocracy
as well as café society of between-the-wars Paris and gained insight
into the needs of women in that era of change and freedom. He had the
surest of hands, dressed Gertude Lawrence for the stage and Princess
Marina of Greece for her wedding to the Duke of Kent.
Molyneux
was born in London in 1891 and his first ambition was to be a painter.
His sketch for an evening dress won a contest sponsored by Lucile (Lady
Duff Gordon) who hired him but this was interrupted by the war when he
was wounded and lost an eye. In 1918 he opened his salon in Paris and
from the beginning, his style was extreme simplicity and perfect taste.
Success came quickly and he moved into a larger maison and opened
several branches. In addition to couture, he designed furs, lingerie,
hats and perfume notably his "Numero Cinq". He dressed the most elegant
women right up to the outbreak of World War II and escaped from Paris
to London in 1940.
Molyneux was known for conservative clothes
but never staid or matronly. His typical customer was tall, thin and
intelligent, with long slim legs and usually in the late twenties or
thirties. His streamlined backless white satin evening dress with
silver-fox furs thrown over the shoulder, became the symbol of 30's
elegance. He was best known for his wonderful handling of navy blue and
black, whether an easy plated skirt-suit or a slip-like evening dress.
In
The 30's the pure Molyneux look fully emerged. His soft velvet evening
coats fell to the floor in a single unbroken line, his dresses with
matching three-quarter length coats had a graceful fluidity. By the end
of the 30's he experimented with a newly narrowed waist, one that later
Dior called the "New Look". In the 30's Irish designer John Cavanagh
worked under Molyneux in Paris, and gained valuable experience which
stood him in good stead when he later opened his own house.
After
the war, Molyneux returned to Paris but it was not the same, his health
particularly his eyesight, began to fail, so in 1950 he closed his
Paris and London establishments and retired to Jamaica. He traveled
widely and resumed his painting and in 1965 collaborated with his
nephew with a ready-to-wear operation called "Studio Molyneux" He died
in 1974 at the age of 83. He will be remembered for his streamlined
30's designs, clothing from a decade he helped to shape. |
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