PAQUIN THE DRESSMAKER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2814, 19 February 1908, Page 79

PAQUIN THE DRESSMAKER.

DIES IN PARIS

The Paris correspondent of the Daily Telegraph records the death, at the ago oi 45, of Isidore Paquin, the worldrenowned dressmaker, whose rise to fame was romantic. He was born in Paris in 1862, and his parents had at one time conducted a small business in the provinces. Be began as a bank clerk, after completing bis course of studies at a lycee, soon rising to a. position of confidence, and, young as he was, was' appointed director o; the branch establishment at Levallois of the Bernhard Charpentier Bank. Haying married very early a saleswoman, in ono of the big dressmaking houses of Paris, he left the bank and became a partner, together with hi 6 young wife, in a little costumier's business, •known, as the "Maison Lalanne," which has long ceased to exist. Their united capital was very small, and few would have imagined, when he opened" a house in 1889 in bis own name, at the age of 27, that he was laying the foundation of what was to be one of the largest dressmaking firms in this city. As a proof of the extraordinary success which attended his efforts, it is pointed out that seven years later, in 1896, he converted and sold his business to a company with a capital of 12,000,000fr, and soon after was decorated with the Legion of Honour.

Paquin was one of the three or four big dressmakers of Paris, and his position was almost unique. In one way, he had understood, perhaps, more than any other map in his trade in France the commercial possibilities to be developed across the Channel. Most French couturiers let the Englishwoman come to them. Paquin went to the Englishwoman, and attracted her to his shop in her own city. His business in London was as great as in Paris, and, some say, greater. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the entente cordiale, which brought him in a fortune. Still, his Parisian business wa6 not neglected, and his shop is the largest in the Rue de la Paix, where it consists, in fact, of two whole houses, with beBowered balconies. The custom of Paquin's includes all eorts and conditione, and the firm has no special clientele. It laid itself out aot only fa capture Eidish

custom, but to develop a large business 1b America, and -succeeded. American buyere, who flock to Panis twice a year, would perhaps prefer to mise any show ot models r«fe£er than that at Paquin's^Paquin himself found this popularity -be? \ coming a; little overwhelming. American;^ lady artigfe -in disguise drew his nwideb&JiS which were in the States &foR they had been legitimately vislflie. Sokeen a" man of v business wag^pick to fight such competition effectually, And he ■ M *^ ( leaguq o bAnain^ all the great: - Paris dressmakers who belonged, fo it not to show their models to anyone befor* *, certain dates to" "be decided upon by them for the different seasons.

Twenty years ago, when Worth, Doucet, "- and others were still the undisputed mas- ■- tea's of fashionable productions in "Paris, -' little was known of Paquin, who, from, an obscure position as a «niall costumier, . was gradually making his way among the exclusive set of the Rue de la Paix. ta a few years, however, his name became famous, and from that day on he ranked among the first, his establishment in. the Rue de la Paix with its florid balconies, summer and winter, and its crowded try-ing-on and essayage rooms becoming' a conspicuous feature. The latest addition to his enterprise was the fur department, which he had established on a vast basis, -with branches all over the world, and so comprehensive was his scheme that he handled thousands of furs, buying them direct from trappers, having his own ships and railway cars to bring them to Paris, curing, dressing, and fashioning them in his own workshops before they were given into the hands of the midinettes of Paris.

The number employed by him varied, of course, according to the season of the year, but it has been said that it was never less than 800, and sometimes as high as 2000. Considering that all these hands were occupied in practically a specialty, simply producing a& rapidly and artistically as possible the latest creations of the fashion designer, and that a great Parisian ' dressmaker's business does not extend into the general dry goods business, as is mostly the "case in other countries, it is evident that, from a fashion point of view, he occupied a dominant situation. And yet his popularity was constantly increasing, so that his premises in the Rue de la Paix were practically too small for him. There is no doubt that all the industrious midinettes of Paris will deeply regret their popular " patron."