Robert Barger and Jacques Fath Collection, 1949-1952, [1973]

Robert Barger and Jacques Fath collection, 1949-1952, [1973] Finding aid prepared by Celia Hartmann This finding aid was generated using Archivists' Toolkit on October 24, 2018 The Costume Institute's Irene Lewisohn Costume Reference Library The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1000 Fifth Avenue New York, NY, 10028 [email protected] Robert Barger and Jacques Fath collection, 1949-1952, [1973] Table of Contents Summary Information .......................................................................................................3 Biographical note.................................................................................................................4 Scope and Contents note.....................................................................................................5 Arrangement note................................................................................................................ 6 Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 6 Related Materials .............................................................................................................. 6 Controlled Access Headings............................................................................................... 7 Collection Inventory............................................................................................................8 Series I. Clippings and Sketches...................................................................................8 Series II. Photographs................................................................................................... 8 - Page 2 - Robert Barger and Jacques Fath collection, 1949-1952, [1973] Summary Information Repository The Costume Institute's Irene Lewisohn Costume Reference Library Title Robert Barger and Jacques Fath collection, 1949-1952, [1973] Dates 1949-1952, [1973] Extent 1.5 Linear feet : two boxes Language English Abstract The collection documents Parisian fashion designer Jacques Fath and American model Robert Barger in photographs, newspaper and magazine clippings, and tear sheets. The photographs include studio shots of Barger modeling, candid photographs of each man alone, with each other, and with their respective families in social settings on board ship, in restaurants, and at private homes. Preferred Citation note [Title of item], [date of item], Box [number], Folder [number], Robert Barger and Jacques Fath collection, The Irene Lewisohn Costume Reference Library at The Costume Institute, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. - Page 3 - Robert Barger and Jacques Fath collection, 1949-1952, [1973] Biographical note Jacques Fath (1912-1954) was born in Maisons Lafitte, France, and educated at the Institut Commercial in Vincennes, which prepared him for his first job in a brokerage firm. Fath came from an artistic family and had dabbled in design and clothing construction. After completing his compulsory military service, he opened House of Fath in 1936, with Mme. Gulbenkian as premiere in a space at 32 rue la Boetie, Paris, and showed its inaugural collection in 1937. Fath was drafted as gunner at the outbreak of war in September 1939, and was briefly held as a prisoner of war. At his discharge in August, 1940, he bought out Mme. Gulbenkian’s share of the firm, which a year later he moved to 39 Avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie. Film director Leonide Moguy, whom Fath met in a diction class, introduced him to model Genéviève Boucher de la Bruyère who had also served as secretary to Coco Chanel. They were married in 1939 and a son, Philippe, was born in 1943. Fath is generally considered among the big three twentieth century Parisian designers, together with Dior and Balmain, but is less well known because of his early death at age 42. He is seen as the first couturier to introduce themed seasonal collections, which were often characterized by hyperfeminine, vamp styling. House of Fath models were among the first so-called super models, including Bettina to whom he gave her stage name. His assistants included at various times Hubert de Givenchy, Guy Laroche, and Valentino Garavan. Fath famously designed the wedding dress and trousseau for actress Rita Hayworth’s marriage to Prince Aly Khan. In the 1940s and 1950s Fath extended his brand to perfumes (Chasuble, Iris Gris, Canasta) and introduced a ready-to-wear line Jacques Fath-Université that was available, along with scarves, ties, and hosiery, in a boutique setting. As well as couture collections, he also designed for the cinema: Moira Shearer’s costumes in The Red Shoes (1948) as well as for Quai des Orfevres (1947) and Between Eleven and Midnight (1949). In 1945, Fath donated four pieces to the exhibition "Théâtre de la Mode", in which one hundred and seventy thirty-inch high wire dolls dressed by French couturiers in contemporary fashions were displayed on stage settings designed by artists, stage designers, and decorators. The installation at the Louvre’s Pavillon Marsan was a benefit for Entreaide Française, the central French agency that was coordinating war relief in France. The Faths used their extravagant lifestyle, including a weekend home at Chateau Corbeville outside Paris, to great advantage in gaining magazine and newspaper coverage for themselves and the House of Fath brand. Their three-month trip to the United States in 1948, especially Genevieve’s wardrobe and shoe choices, was covered in exquisite detail in Life Magazine. The trip eventuated in an agreement with Seventh Avenue manufacturer Joseph Halpert (1896-1959), under which Fath designed two collections per year of about twenty models each for exclusive department stores such as Neiman Marcus under the brand Jacques Fath for Joseph Halpert. In 1948, Fath received - Page 4 - Robert Barger and Jacques Fath collection, 1949-1952, [1973] the Neiman Marcus Fashion Award. The couple’s lavish costume parties at Chateau Corbeville in the early 1950s were documented extensively by photographers including Robert Doisneau and David Seymour. Fath was diagnosed with leukemia in 1952 and died in 1954. Genevieve ran the House of Fath until 1957 when it ceased haute couture creation but continued to produce perfumes, gloves, hosiery, and accessories. The brand has since been bought and sold numerous times. American model Robert “Bob” Webster Barger (d. 2001) worked extensively in the early 1950s in New York, and advertisements featuring him appeared in print publications including Esquire, Gentleman’s Quarterly, The New York Times, and Women’s Day. He was at one time represented by New York’s Burke-McHugh (later Rice-McHugh) Agency, one of few modeling agencies to feature male models. Educated at New York’s Parson’s School of Design, Barger studied in Paris in the late 1940s, when he met the Faths. When the couple traveled to the United States in 1951 on a promotional trip for the Jacques Fath for Joseph Halpert line, Barger hosted them in Greensboro, NC, where he worked as an interior designer. Barger was associated with the House of Fath from 1951 to 1955, where he served variously as liaison with American buyers and as director of the Fath boutique. Like Fath, Barger was married, and he and his wife Marion had a son Freddy likely born in the early 1950s. Scope and Contents note The collection documents Parisian fashion designer Jacques Fath and American model Robert Barger in photographs, newspaper and magazine clippings, tear sheets, and a sketchbook. The photographs include studio shots of Barger modeling, candid photographs of each man alone, with each other, and with their respective families in social settings on board ship, in restaurants, and at private homes. There are publicity photographs of both men as well as images of unidentified men. Many of the photographs appear to have been previously glued to a backing. The clippings include those on pages removed from Barger’s professional portfolio, as well as loose tear sheets and clippings documenting Fath and his designs. The sketchbook includes Fath's studies of World War I fashion based on the publication L'Art et la Mode. A series of photographs documents one or more parties held at the time of the Battle of Versailles, a 1973 fashion face off between French and American designers. These postdate Fath’s death and do not contain images of Barger. No explanation is provided for their presence in the collection. - Page 5 - Robert Barger and Jacques Fath collection, 1949-1952, [1973] Arrangement note The collection is organized in two series by material type: Series I. Clippings, and Series II. Photographs. Administrative Information Conditions Governing Access note The collection is open for research; materials are stored offsite and advance notice of 48 hours is required. Collection contains photographs that should be handled with gloves. Conditions Governing Use note Copyright restrictions apply. Consult Irene Lewisohn Costume Reference Library staff regarding permission to quote or reproduce. Provenance The Barger scrapbook was acquired in 2004 from John D. Welch. Materials on Barger, Fath, and Halpert were acquired from Joseph Halpert’s widow, Catherine Halpert Winn, in 1991 Related Materials Related Materials in Other Collections The Special Collections and College Archives at the Fashion Institute of Technology's Gladys Marcus Library holds similar publicity photographs and clippings documenting Jacques Fath and his designs, some of which duplicate items in this collection. Related Materials in

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