Photo: Jean Dunand, Public domain — Source
French fashion designer known as 'the Queen of the bias cut' and 'the architect among dressmakers.' Born in 1876 to a working-class family in Chilleurs-aux-Bois, she began her apprenticeship at age 11 and trained at the houses of Callot Soeurs and Jacques Doucet before opening her own maison de couture in Paris in 1912. She revolutionized fashion by cutting fabric on the bias — diagonally across the grain — allowing garments to drape fluidly around the body rather than constraining it with corsets. Her Grecian-inspired designs liberated women's silhouettes in the 1920s-30s. She was also a pioneer in workers' rights, providing her employees with paid holidays, a canteen, and medical care. She closed her house at the outbreak of World War II and lived to 98.
Source: FIT Fashion History Timeline