Norman Hartnell
Sir Norman Bishop Hartnell , KCVO (born June 12, 1901 in London , † June 8, 1979 in Windsor ) was a British fashion designer . He was purveyor to the court of Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
Training and career beginnings
Norman Hartnell was born in the London borough of Streatham ; his parents were innkeepers and ran the Crown & Scepter , a large coaching inn on Streatham Hill . Hartnell attended Mill Hill School and studied Modern Languages at Magdalene College , Cambridge , but left the university without a degree. He was more interested in art and theater and designed sets for the university theater. In London he worked unsuccessfully with two fashion designers, including Lucy Christiana Duff Gordon , whom he later sued for copying his designs. In 1923 he opened his own business in Mayfair at 10 Bruton Street with the help of a father and sister.
10 Bruton Street
Hartnell won a group of young customers and their mothers who wanted to stand out with their fashionable originality during the London season . He took up the spirit of the jeunesse dorée and the flapper , but gave his creations more romanticism. This was particularly evident from his preference for evening and afternoon dresses, which were worn at court occasions and at many weddings of the better society in London. Hartnell also enjoyed success in Paris and New York , which earned him plenty of newspaper exposure and increased demand from customers who no longer wanted to be satisfied with London copies of Parisian designs. He won numerous prominent customers, such as Gladys Cooper and Elsie Randolph , later Gertrude Lawrence , Jessie Matthews , Merle Oberon , Evelyn Laye , Anna Neagle as well as two French stars, Alice Delysia and Mistinguett .
Hartnell's enterprising sister, Phyllis, insisted that her brother also design practical clothes for everyday use. He designed British woolen goods based on Coco Chanel , who in turn was very interested in his designs, which he showed in Paris in 1927 and 1929. Hartnell emulated his British predecessor Charles Frederick Worth , who was his great role model. He specialized in decorating his designs with expensive and elaborate embroidery . For this, there was his own workshop in his studio, where his own embroidery was made until his death. Embroidered Christmas cards were even made there in the quiet summer months, with which Hartnell advertised his house.
The originality and complexity of Hartnell embroidery have been described repeatedly in press releases, especially when they graced the wedding dresses of young celebrity customers in the 1920s and 1930s.
26 Bruton Street Mayfair 1934-1940
Due to his business success, Norman Hartnell moved his company to the house at 26 Bruton Street, which was built in the 18th century and the rooms of the architect Gerald Lacoste (1909-1983) had been redesigned with glass and mirrors. There were other prominent customers like Marlene Dietrich , Merle Oberon and - after the war - Elizabeth Taylor . At the same time he bought the small forester's house Lovel Dene in Windsor Forest , which was also redesigned by Lacoste and where Hartnell retired. Whenever he was in London, he lived in Tower House on Regent's Park .
Hartnell soon received his first orders from members of the royal family, such as wedding dress and equipment for Alice, Duchess of Gloucester , future daughter-in-law of King George V. Bridesmaids were the future Queen Elizabeth II and her sister Margaret , who also wore designs by Hartnell. The king and his wife Mary liked the clothes so much that Queen Mary became a Hartnell customer. His designs for the future Duchess of Gloucester were reported around the world; however, the grand official ceremony in Westminster Abbey was canceled due to the death of the bride's father and instead only a private wedding took place.
When George VI. was crowned, his wife ordered the dresses for her maid of honor from Hartnell, but her own coronation robe from a fashion designer she had been a customer for a long time. Then Hartnell received more and more orders from the farm. He created the queen's streamlined look for her day and evening wear. These and the sequin-embroidered evening dresses for the affluent customers were created by Mademoiselle Davide , a French employee of Hartnell who was said to be the highest paid employee in the fashion business. Hartnell also reintroduced the crinoline after King Hartnell showed portraits of Franz Xaver Winterhalter in the Royal Collection with the suggestion that the petite queen should be dressed in such a way that she should gain stature after the abdication of Edward VIII as a living symbol for the enduring tradition of the monarchy . After the Queen wore such a crinoline on a state visit to Paris in 1938, it had an impact on fashion worldwide.
In 1939, Norman Hartnell was awarded the French Ordre des Palmes Académiques .
26 Bruton Street Mayfair 1940–1952
During the Second World War , Norman Hartnell's business was also subject to strict rationing of fabrics and necessary small goods. He joined the British Home Guard but continued his career doing sales demonstrations for overseas customers, competing with French, German and US fashion designers. Wealthy customers continued to order new clothes from the rationed ingredients or have existing clothes remodeled. This also referred to the Queen, who traveled to bombed areas in the country in her best clothes. She supported Hartnell as he designed elegant and novel fashions that met British government specifications and were manufactured in large numbers by Berkertex , a relationship that lasted into the 1950s. This made him the first fashion designer in the world to design clothes for mass production. Together with other fashion designers, he founded The Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers (INCSOC) to popularize British fashion design at home and abroad. Hartnell was also commissioned to design uniforms for women in the army and community service, which was followed by orders for the London Metropolitan Police .
In 1946, Norman Hartnell successfully presented his collection in South America, where Eva Perón and Magda Lupescu were among his customers. In 1947 he was awarded the Neiman Marcus Fashion Award for his influence in the fashion world.
In 1947 the Queen commissioned him to design the dress for Princess Elisabeth's wedding to Prince Philip . The dress was embroidered with more than 10,000 small beads as well as thousands of white glass beads. He then became one of the most important fashion designers who worked for the princess and thus won a younger generation of customers around the world who saw the princess on her travels. The younger sister of the future Queen, Princess Margaret , was also a customer of Hartnell and, as a media favorite, was often photographed in his creations and depicted in magazines.
Many elegant evening dresses by Norman Hartnell from this period are now in museum collections.
26 Bruton Street Mayfair 1952-1979
In 1952 Norman Hartnell was commissioned by Elizabeth II to design her coronation gown. Hartnell and his assistant Ian Thomas presented many drafts to the Queen, which they discussed together. Finally, a design was chosen that was reminiscent of her wedding dress, but the skirt was made of heavier and thicker silk and decorated with numerous embroidery, including the botanical emblems of the countries of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth . He also designed the dresses of the maid of honor and all important female members of the royal family to create a uniform image in Westminster Abbey . He called the 1953 collection The Silver and Gold Collection ; this is how he titled his autobiography, illustrated by Ian Thomas. Thomas and Hardy Amies also designed the Queen's wardrobe for her numerous trips. The last major royal occasion Hartnell tailored for was Princess Margaret's wedding to Antony Armstrong-Jones , for which he designed a particularly sleek dress with an opulent amount of fabric. As a result, he was entrusted with further royal commissions, in which he was supported by Ian Thomas and Gnyuki Tormimaru .
During the 1950s and 1960s, Hartnell's name was continuously featured in the media. He himself was always available for promotional activities, such as tailoring a dress from pound notes or creating particularly sensational evening dresses for famous women. At that time he employed around 550 people in his London home.
On the occasion of the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977, Norman Hartnell was appointed Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order . The medal was presented to him by Queen Mum , who was his loyal customer. In the press he was called The First Fashion Knight . He continued to work on his collections until his death in 1979. His house now also sold off-the-rack clothes and merchandise products such as handbags, perfumes and stockings.
On June 15, 1979, Norman Hartnell was buried next to his mother and sister in Clayton . Many friends, employees and prominent customers came to the funeral service, including Barbara Cartland and the Duchess of Argyll . A consortium bought Hartnell's store, designers Gina Fratini and Murray Arbeid presented guest collections and the building was renovated. The house reopened with a collection by Marc Bohan , but in 1992 it was finally closed. Since May 2005, a blue plaque has adorned the building at 26 Bruton Street in Mayfair.
Filmography (selection)
Norman Hartnell designed the costumes for the following films:
- Such Is the Law (1930)
- Aunt Sally (1933)
- A Southern Maid (1933)
- That's a Good Girl (1933)
- Give Her a Ring (1934)
- Princess Charming (1934)
- The Church Mouse (1934)
- The Return of Bulldog Drummond (1934)
- Brewster's Millions (1935)
- Two's Company (1936)
- Jump for Glory (1937)
- Non-Stop New York (1937)
- Climbing High (1938)
- Sailing Along (1938)
- Design for Spring (1938)
- Making Fashion (1938)
- He Found a Star (1941) (cloakroom for Sarah Churchill and Evelyn Dall )
- Ships with Wings (1942)
- The Peterville Diamond (1942)
- This Was Paris (1942)
- The Demi-Paradise (1943)
- Maytime in Mayfair (1949)
- The Passionate Stranger (1957) (wardrobe for Margaret Leighton )
- Women in Love (1958) (Eng .: loving women )
- Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) (German: Suddenly last summer ) (wardrobe for Katharine Hepburn )
- Never Put It in Writing (1964)
- The Beauty Jungle (1964)
- A Double in Diamonds (1967) (TV episode: The Saint )
literature
- Michael Pick: Be dazzled! Norman Hartnell - sixty years of glamor and fashion. Pointed Leaf Press, London 2007, ISBN 978-0-9777875-3-1 .
- Norman Hartnell: Silver and Gold. Evans Brothers, 1955, OCLC 763994568 .
- Norman Hartnell: Royal Courts of Fashion. Cassell, London 1971, ISBN 0-304-93830-0 .
- Frances Kennett et al .: Norman Hartnell 1901-1979. Brighton Art Gallery and Bath Museum of Costume, 1985, ISBN 0-901303-18-6 .
- Michael Pick: Gerald Lacoste. In: The Journal of The Thirties Society . No. 3, 1982.
- Caroline de Guitaut: The Royal Tour: A Souvenir Album. The Royal Collection, London 2009, ISBN 978-1-905686-24-7 .
Web links
- Norman Hartnell - Norman Hartnell website
- Norman Hartnell on fashionencyclopedia.com
- Hartnell fashion show (1938)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hartnell, Norman. on: fashionencyclopedia.com
- ↑ The building is now a listed building.
- ↑ Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother , painted by Gerald Kelly (1938), on npg.org.uk
- ↑ Hartnell design for wedding dress of Princess Elizabeth 1947. ( Memento of the original from September 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on: prints-online.com
- ^ The Queen and Fashion. on: royal.gov.uk
- ^ Fashions for the evening by Norman Hartnell, display case in the 'Fashion in the 50s' exhibition at the Museum of Costume, Bath, 2001. at: bridgemanart.com
- ↑ Flashback Friday: The Queen's Coronation Gown on: orderofsplendor.blogspot.com
- ^ Norman Hartnell (1901-1979). on: imdb.com
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hartnell, Norman |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hartnell, Norman Bishop (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British fashion designer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 12, 1901 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 8, 1979 |
| Place of death | Windsor |