Maïmé

Arnodin (1916-2003). French consultant stylist and journalist. Married with three children, after gaining a diploma at the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, in 1951 she started as a journalist for Jardin des Modes, becoming editorial director five years later. During these years, she supported up-and-coming designers (like Emmanuelle Khan, Gérard Pipart, Christiane Bailly), and acted as a consultant to the clothing production companies, working with Albert Lempereur (owner of a making up factory, who coined the phrase “prêt-à-porter“). She left the newspaper in 1958 in order to work on promotional sales and publicity at the department store Printemps. But her ambition was to form her own style and fashion company, which she did in 1960. She advised various industrial fashion and textile firms on products and promotional sales and produced a publication entitled Colori Maïmé Arnodin. Eight years after the partnership with Denise Fayolle and the launch of Mafia (Maïmé Arnodin Fayolle International Associés) she became a talent scout for emerging designers and worked as a style and image consultant for various important clients, such as Dupont de Nemours, Absorba, Les 3 Suisses, and Yves Saint Laurent Parfums. Mafia was sold in 1985 to the advertising group BDDP. In 1987 Arnodin went on to found another advertising and communications agency with Denise Fayolle, entitled Nomad, Nouvelle Organisation Maïmé and Denise.