Grés

Grès was a French haute couture fashion house. Parfums Grès is the associated perfume house, which still exists, and is now based in Switzerland. Germaine Emilie Krebs (1903-1993), known as Alix Barton and later as "Madame Grès", launched her design house under the name Grès in Paris in 1942. Grès's first and most famous perfume was Cabochard, created by Bernard Chant, and launched in 1959. She brought out her first Perfume Cabochard in 1959. She gave out a licensing agreement for scarves and neckties, and designed jewellery for Cartier. However in 1982, to keep her couture going, she rashly sold her Perfume rights to Beecham. Her signature was cut-outs on gowns that made exposed skin part of the design, yet still had a classical, sophisticated feel. She was renowned for being the last of the haute couture houses to establish a ready-to-wear line, which she called a "prostitution". The name Grès was a partial anagram of her husband's first name and alias. He was Serge Czerefkov, a Russian painter, who left her soon after the house's creation. Grès enjoyed years of critical successes but, after Grès herself sold the business in the 1980s, it faltered. A large Japanese fashion distributor Yagi Tsusho, bought the name Madame Gres in 1988 and has developed the brand in Japan. Designer Lloyd Klein was chief designer in Paris from 1994-1997. The house of Gres continued under designer Frederic Molenac who joined the house of Gres in 1995. In the summer of 2002, Japanese designer Koji Tatsuno took over. Tatsuno is very respectful of the legacy of Madame Gres, and intends to continue her draping style using new and modern techniques and retaining the beauty and elegance of the House.