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{{short description|French fashion house  (1903–1993)}}
{{about|the French fashion house}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
[[File:Gres evening dress, 1951. Purple and magenta shot-silk with full skirt. Shenkar Archive.tiff|thumb|1951 Grès ballgown. Silk taffeta. [[Shenkar College of Engineering and Design|Shenkar Archive]].]]
[[File:Evening gown by Madame Grès, c1981.jpeg|thumb|Draped jersey evening gown by Madame Grès, c.1981. ([[Philadelphia Museum of Art|PMA]])<ref>{{cite web |title=Woman's Evening Ensemble: Top and Skirt |url=https://www.philamuseum.org/collection/object/91809 |website=philamuseum.org |publisher=Philadelphia Museum of Art |language=en}}</ref>]]
'''Grès''' was a French [[haute couture]] fashion house founded by [[Madame Grès]] in 1942. '''Parfums Grès''' is the associated perfume house, which still exists, and is now based in [[Switzerland]].
==History==
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.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1= |first1= |date=20 November 1944 |title=PARIS FASHIONS: France's liberated haute couture has not lost its taste or touch |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3EEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA47 |magazine=LIFE |publisher=Time Inc |pages=47 |volume=17 |series=21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Evening dress Madame Grès (Alix Barton)  |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/80095987?rpp=60&pg=1&rndkey=20121115&ft=*&deptids=62&where=France&who=Madame+Gr%C3%A8s+%28Alix+Barton%29&pos=8|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|access-date=15 November 2012}}</ref> Formally trained as a sculptor, 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]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/style/tmagazine/24hbrubach.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|title = Goddess in the Details|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 24 February 2008|last1 = Brubach|first1 = Holly}}</ref> 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".<ref name="parfumsgres.com">{{Cite web |title=Biography |url=http://www.parfumsgres.com/biography.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070412223505/http://www.parfumsgres.com/biography.html |archive-date=2007-04-12 |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=Parfums Gres}}</ref>
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.<ref name="parfumsgres.com"/> Grès enjoyed years of critical successes but, after Grès herself sold the business in the 1980s to Yagi Tsucho, a Japanese company, they hired [[Lloyd Klein]] as the artistic director for the entire house supervising 46 licencies between Paris and Japan. At the time, [[Lloyd Klein|Klein]] was offered one of the highest salaries of {{val|150000|u=FRF}} per month and an annual fee of 12&nbsp;million&nbsp;FRF. After the death of Madame Grès, [[Lloyd Klein]] left the house to continue his collections in New York. By 2012, the last Grès store in Paris was closed.<ref name="Luxury">{{cite book | title=Luxury Brand Management | publisher=John Wiley & Sons | author=Chevalier, Michel | year=2012 | location=Singapore | isbn=978-1-118-17176-9}}</ref>
Some of Grès' work is exhibited at the [[Palais Galliera]] in Paris.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2022-11-10 |title="Madame Grès Never Did Fashion; She Drove Fashion"—A Show of Her Work Is Opening at SCAD |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/olivier-saillard-on-madame-gres-the-art-of-draping-exhibition-at-scad |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=Vogue |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Style ==
The Grès house produced many Hellenic, draped dresses. The influence of Grès' sculpting years is very visible.<ref name=":0" />
==Parfums Grès==
Grès's signature fragrance was ''Cabochard'', created by Bernard Chant, and launched in 1958.<ref name=perfume>{{Citation  | title = Perfume Intelligence - The Encyclopaedia of Perfume: Volume G : Grès, Parfums| url= http://www.perfumeintelligence.co.uk/library/perfume/g/houses/Gres.htm  | access-date = 2012-03-02}}</ref> {{As of|January 2017}}, ''Cabochard'' is still being manufactured and retailed. Other perfumes, launched after the sale of the company, include:
* ''Cabotine ''(1990)
* ''Folie Douce'' (1997)
* ''Cabaret'' (2003)
* ''Caline'' (2005)
* ''Caline Night'' (2006)
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Biography==
* Laurence Benaïm, ''Madame Grès'', Editions Assouline, 1999 (in French)
* Patricia Mears, ''Madame Grès: Sphinx of Fashion'', Yale University Press, 2008
==Further reading==
*{{cite book | author= Martin, Richard | title= ''Madame Grès'' | location=New York | publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art | year=1994 | isbn=9780870997273 | url=http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/87602}}
{{Grands couturiers}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gres}}
[[Category:Clothing brands of France]]
[[Category:Clothing companies established in 1942]]
[[Category:French fashion designers|Gres, Madame]]
[[Category:French women fashion designers|Gres, Madame]]
[[Category:Haute couture]]
[[Category:Perfume houses|Parfums Gres]]
[[Category:French companies established in 1942]]
[[Category:Design companies disestablished in 2012]]
[[Category:French companies disestablished in 2012]]