Inspiration from Madeleine Vionnet

Here is really one of the most important couturiers ever in my opinion. Currently they have dusted off a collection of her works, and I quote:

Although the name of Madeleine Vionnet is hardly known today, in her heyday she was regarded as being as important to fashion as Picasso was to painting.

A landmark first retrospective of her work at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs pays a long overdue homage to her contribution to changing the face of fashion from 1912 until 1939, when she closed her fashion house in the shadow of World War II.

In fashion circles she remains a legend, one of the first modernisers and most innovative designers of her time, particularly for her pioneering use of the bias cut and draping which freed women's bodies from the constraints of the corset.

Her influence on later generations of designers as diverse as Cristobal Balenciaga, Azzedine Alaia and Yohji Yamamoto has been unparalleled.

"These are pieces which are not about prettiness but about beauty," says Pamela Golbin, curator of the show, who spent the best part of two years assembling the 130 models on display.