Fashion career profile
Charles Frederick Worth
Charles Frederick Worth (13 October 1825 – 10 March 1895) was an English fashion designer who founded the House of Worth, one of the foremost fashion houses of the 19th and early 20th centuries. He is considered by many fashion historians to be the father of haute couture. Worth is also credited with revolutionising the business of fashion. Established in Paris in 1858, his fashion salon soon attracted European royalty, and where they led monied society followed. An innovative designer, he adapted 19th-century dress to make it more suited to everyday life, with some changes said to be at the request of his most prestigious client Empress Eugénie. He was the first to replace the fashion dolls with live models in order to promote his garments to clients, and to sew branded labels into his clothing; almost all clients visited his salon for a consultation and fitting – thereby turning the House of Worth into a society meeting point. By the end of his career, his fashion house employed 1,200 people and its impact on fashion taste was far-reaching. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has said that his "aggressive self-promotion" earned him the title of the first couturier. Certainly, by 1870, his name was not just known in court circles, but appeared in women's magazines that were read by wide society. He is credited with inventing the hoop skirt and the bustle. Worth raised the status of dressmaking so that the designer-maker also became arbiter of what women should be wearing. Writing on the history of fashion and, in particular, dandyism, in 2002, George Walden said: "Charles Frederick Worth dictated fashion in France a century and a half before Galliano".
- Role
- Founder, House of Worth
- Nationality
- British-French
- Age at death
- 69
- Career appointments
- 2
- Fashion houses
- 1
- Presentation practice: House of Worth showed advance designs on live modelsClients could select designs and have garments made to measure; The Met cautions that Worth was not the only designer to use the model. · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Business partner: Founded the Paris firm with Otto BoberghThe partnership began in 1858 and the business later became known as the House of Worth. · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- House succession: His sons took over the business after his death in 1895Gaston-Lucien and Jean-Philippe Worth continued the family business; it closed in 1952. · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Early recognition: Worth’s designs received prizes at the 1851 and 1855 international exhibitionsThe Met cites awards in London’s Great Exhibition and Paris’s Exposition Universelle. · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- 1845 — Moves to Paris and joins GagelinAt Gagelin he becomes a leading salesman and opens a dressmaking department.
- 1851 — Wins recognition at the Great ExhibitionThe Met records prize-winning designs shown in London and later at the 1855 Paris exposition.
- 1858 — Opens a firm with Otto BoberghThe partnership establishes the business that becomes the House of Worth.
- 1895 — Worth’s sons take over the houseFollowing his death, Gaston-Lucien and Jean-Philippe Worth continue the family business.
- 1858–1895 — Founder — House of WorthHistorical appointment
- 1858–1895 — Founder and Designer — House of WorthHistorical appointment · The Metropolitan Museum of Art