Chanel in Geneva

claireshaeffer

claireshaeffer

VFG Member
I found this in an old file on my computer. Sorry, this is all of it. My guess is that he made line-for-line copies.

Pierre Weyeneth was a couturier based in Geneva who alongside his own Couture house had the Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent Haute Couture license during the 60’s and the 70’s. Then he opened the first Chanel store in Geneva.
 
Claire, I did a bit of a Google search looking for "Pierre Weyeneth Couture" and found a few things.

The company was finally deleted from all company listings in 2002. I found a LinkedIn profile of someone who worked for him in 1995-96, so he was around for a long time.
I found a licensed item by him on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/774014565/1960s-pierre-weyeneth-licensed-couture - this one says he had the company until 1997. Also found this on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.se/pin/270427152613264319

But the most info probably has this page - this is from 1998:
http://www.lejournalfrancais.ch/ljf33/distinctions.html
So he was made a chevalier of the French Légion d'Honneur - which as far as I know is a big thing. It says he was general director of the Chanel boutiques in Suisse Romande (the French-speaking part of Switzerland) and that he had made large contributions to the promotion of French haute cuture in Switzerland since the 1950s. He was also for many years presidet of Haute Couture at the Chambre Syndicale in Geneva and known for his prestigious fashion shows, some of which were even held at the French embassy in Berne. And in 1995 received the "Oscar" of Chambre Franco-Suisse (some kind of trade association I guess) for being the best importer of French goods in Switzerland.
 
Karin, Thank you. That's most interesting--not so much about him personally but for the info about the haute couture in Switzerland.

In the US, Chez Ninon was probably a similar business. They bought couture designs and copied them for their customers. This was similar to the workrooms at I.Magnin, Bergdorf Goodman, and Garfinckel's.

The construction techniques were more or less the same as the French haute couture. In Couture Sewing Techniques, there is a photo of Dior's Virevolte (p109). The Met and FIDM in LA have original Diors; FAMSF has an I. Magnin copy. There are small differences in the construction techniques, but they are not significant. Differences can be because of customer taste and/or techniques preferred by the head of the workroom or the hands making the design.
 
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