Amazing Vintage Fashion Photography by George Platt Lynes (1940s)

George Platt Lynes (April 15, 1907 – December 6, 1955) was an American fashion and commercial photographer who worked in the 1930s and 1940s.

He developed close friendships within a larger circle of artists including Jean Cocteau and Julien Levy, the art dealer and critic. Levy would exhibit his photographs in his gallery in New York City in 1932 and Lynes would open his studio there that same year.

He was soon receiving commissions from Harper’s Bazaar, Town & Country, and Vogue including a cover with perhaps the first supermodel, Lisa Fonssagrives

George Platt Lynes, Untitled, 1940s via

George Platt Lynes, Lisa Fonssagrives for Marshall Field, 1940 via

George Platt Lynes, Lisa for Henri Bendel, 1940-41 via

George Platt Lynes, Evelyn Tripp, 1948 via

George Platt Lynes, Fashion model in Lincoln Kirstein’s appartement, with Elie Nadelman sculpture, 1948 via

George Platt Lynes, Untitled, 1940s via

George Platt Lynes, Madame Grès, Evening gown with peplum, silk jersey, 1940 via

Amazing Vintage Photos of Fashion’s First Supermodel Lisa Fonssagrives

Swedish fashion model Lisa Fonssagrives (1911 – 1992) is widely credited as the world´s first supermodel. She was born Lisa Birgitta Bernstone and was  raised in Uddevalla.

She went to Mary Wigman’s school in Berlin and studied art and dance. After returning to Sweden, she opened a dance school.  She moved from Sweden to Paris to train for ballet and worked as a private dance teacher with Photographer Fernand Fonssagrives, which then led to a modeling career.

She married Fonssagrives in 1935; they divorced and she later married fashion photographer, Irving Penn, in 1950.

The Elton John photography collection auction held by Christie’s on October 15, 2004 sold a 1950 Irving Penn photograph of his wife, Lisa Fonssagrives, for $57,360.

VOGUE Cover, Lisa Fonssagrives by Horst P. Horst, 1940 via

Lisa Fonssagrives by Irving Penn, 1949

Lisa Fonssagrives by Lillian Bassman via

 

Lisa Fonssagrives by Irving Penn via

Lisa Fonssagrives, 1940’s via

Lisa Fonssagrives on the Eiffel Tower by Erwin Blumenfeld, Vogue, 1939 via

Lisa Fonssagrives Le Modele by Fernand Fonssagrives, 1942 via

Lisa Fonssagrives by William Klein (1953)

Lisa Fonssagrives by William Klein, 1953 via

Cristobal Balenciaga Coats photographed by Irving Penn

Cristóbal Balenciaga 1895 – 1972) opened his Paris couture house in 1937. He gained a reputation as a couturier of uncompromising standards and was referred to as “the master of us all” by Christian Dior. It was not until the post-war years that the full scale of the inventiveness became evident. In 1951, he totally transformed the silhouette, broadening the shoulders and removing the waist. In 1955, he designed the tunic dress, which later developed into the chemise dress of 1957. And eventually, in 1959, his work culminated in the Empire line, with high-waisted dresses and coats cut like kimonos.

Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn wearing a mantel coat by Cristóbal Balenciaga. Photo: Irving Penn via

Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn wearing a Balenciaga Coat, Paris. Photo: Irving Penn via

Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn wearing  Cristobal Balenciaga, Little Great Coat. Photo: Irving Penn, 1950 via

Cristobal Balenciaga, Coat. Photo: Irving Penn, 1951 via

Cristobal Balenciaga, “Balenciaga sleeve”. Photo: Irving Penn, 1951 via