Jean Patou's swimwear
Jean Patou was born in Normandy, France in 1880. Patou's family's business was in the textile industry. Patou worked with his uncle in Normandy, then moved to Paris in 1910 to be come a couturier.
In 1912 he opened a small dressmaking salon called "Maison Parry". His entire 1914 collection was purchased by a single American buyer. Patou's work was interrupted by World War 1. He reopened his couture house in 1919, he then became known for eradicating the flapper look by lengthening the skirt and introduced sportswear for women, and is considered the inventor of the knitted swimwear and the tennis skirt. He notably designed the daring sleeveless and thigh-high cut tennis wear for Suzanne Lenglen. Patou was known to move fashion towards the natural and comfortable.
Patou's clothes were marketed mostly to rich American women. When the stock market crashed it was his perfumes that kept him afloat.
The best known of Patou's perfumes is Joy (pictured above) a heavy floral scent, based on the most precious rose and jasmine, that remained the costliest perfume in the world, until the House of Patou introduced "1000" in 1970.
Joy remains the world’s second best-selling scent (the first is Chanel No.5). Joy was created by Henri Almeras for Patou at the height of the Great Depression, for Patou's former clients who could no longer afford his haute couture clothing line.
I was lucky enough to find Patou's Joy perfume display bottle (factice) at Rozelle markets on the weekend (pictured above), what an amazing find! The large deco bottle in my opinion is not just a display, it is also a work of art.
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