Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon | |
|---|---|
 Photographed by Arnold Genthe, 1919 | |
| Born | Lucy Christiana Sutherland 13 June 1863 London, England |
| Died | 20 April 1935 (aged 71) London, England |
| Spouses | |
| Children | Esme Giffard, Countess of Halsbury |
| Relatives | Elinor Glyn (sister) Tony Giffard, 3rd Earl of Halsbury (grandson) |
| Nationality | English |
| Label | Lucile Ltd. |
Lucy Christiana, Lady Duff-Gordon (née Sutherland; 13 June 1863 – 20 April 1935) was a leading British fashion designer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries who worked under the professional name Lucile.
The first British-based designer to achieve international acclaim, Lucy Duff-Gordon was a widely acknowledged innovator in couture styles as well as in fashion industry public relations. In addition to originating the "mannequin parade", a precursor to the modern fashion show, and training the first professional models, she launched slit skirts and low necklines, popularized less restrictive corsets, and promoted alluring and pared-down lingerie.[1]
Opening branches of her London house, Lucile Ltd, in Chicago, New York City, and Paris, her business became the first global couture brand, dressing a trend-setting clientele of royalty, nobility, and stage and film personalities.[2] Duff-Gordon is also remembered as a survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912, and as the losing party in the precedent-setting 1917 contract law case of Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, in which Judge Benjamin N. Cardozo wrote the opinion for New York's highest court, the New York Court of Appeals, upholding a contract between Duff-Gordon and her advertising agent that assigned the agent the sole right to market her name.[3] It was the first case of its kind, clothes labelled and sold at a lowered cost in a cheaper market under an expensive "brand name".
- ^ Etherington-Smith, Meredith, The "It" Girls (1986), 56–57; Mendes, Valerie D., Lucile Ltd (2009), 22, 26.
- ^ O'Hara, Georgina, The Encyclopedia of Fashion (1986), 164; Bowles, Hamish, "The Look of the Century", Vogue, November 1999, 453.
- ^ Lynch, Don, Titanic: An Illustrated History(1992), 182–185; 222 N.Y. 88, N.E.214.