Montaigne

French designer, born in Holland. His real name was Charles Meuwese.

Montaigne, Charles (1900-1989). French designer, born in Holland. His real name was Charles Meuwese. During the 1950s, he attempted to anticipate the future of ready-made clothing by producing paper patterns of his garments, accompanied with a book of photos of the made-up items and labels to sew onto the finished model. It was a disaster. Nevertheless, his fashion house survived the blow and only closed in 1973 due to his advanced age.

Even though he was the grandson of a textile industrialist, or even because of this, he was 12 when he went to a tailor’s atelier for the first time. At almost 22, he was experienced enough to be taken on as a cutter by Madame Vionnet. Jacques Griffe worked under him. In 1939, when Vionnet closed for the war, he was brave enough to set up on his own with his wife Sonia, the star of the atelier’s models, and the première Madame Catherine. His style was directly influenced by that of the great Madeleine.