New fashioned: From the very beginning, American style has been democratic
In January 1937, Pauline Trigère and her husband, Lazar Radley, along with their two sons and Trigère’s mother and brother Robert, arrived in New York City.The family was Jewish, and they had left France because of the growing Nazi threat.
New York, however, was just a stopover: Their destination was Chile, where Lazar and Robert planned to establish a fashion business.Pauline was an experienced cutter and had grown up in her parents’ dressmaking workshop; but Lazar preferred that she not work, so her role would be minimal.On their first morning in the city, Pauline, Lazar and Robert set out to scout Fifth Avenue for trends.
It was then that Pauline began to envision a different future.In every store they visited, she marveled at the quality of the fabrics and the tailoring.The prices were lower and the selection greater than in Paris.
It was the dead of winter, yet shop windows were full of spring clothes.The American industry, Pauline realized, was very well organized and supplied if it could plan and execute production so far in advance.
As for the average New Yorker on the street, she was much better dressed than the average Parisienne.That evening Pauline told her husband that they she was staying in New York.He replied that she was crazy.
It had taken months to get their visas.They were sticking to the plan.Pauline refused to budge.The family remained in New York, and Pauline went on to become one of the giants of Seventh Avenue, a maker of refined, impeccably tailored coats and suits worn by women like Lena Horne and Grace Kelly.
She retired in 1994 at the age of 86 with three Coty Awards, the pre-cursor to the CFDA awards, to her name.She divorced Lazar.Pauline Trigère understood instinctively what distinguished American fashion.
She came from a tradition in which fashion was for those who could afford it — Paris was the birthplace of the haute couture, which focused on making one garment at time, for one client at a time.In New York, thanks...