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

A Collection of Photos Featuring Designs by Madame Grès (1930s)

Germaine Émilie Krebs (1903–1993), known as Alix Barton and later as “Madame Grès”, relaunched her design house under the name Grès in Paris in 1942. Prior to this, she worked as “Alix” or “Alix Grès” during the 1930s. Formally trained as a sculptress, she produced haute couture designs for an array of fashionable women, including the Duchess of Windsor, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Dolores del Río.

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. 

She retired at the end of the 1980s after French investor Bernard Tapie took control of the company. She died in a low-cost retirement home, apparently alone and penniless.

In 2012, the last Grès store in Paris was closed.

Germaine Krebs (1903-1993) dite Alix puis Madame Grès, créant une robe du soir pour Macy’s. Paris, août 1933 via

Madame Grès draping a dress, photographed by Boris Lipnitzki, ca. 1935 via

Madame Grès, Dress, photographed by Eugène Rubin for Femina, 1937 via

 

Madame Grès by George Hoyningen-Huene, 1937 via