Lucien Lelong

Lucien Lelong (; 11 October 1889 – 11 May 1958)

Lelong was drafted for military service in the First World War in 1914, interrupting the creation and presentation of his first collection.

Fashion career He returned to the family business in 1918 and by 1921, the business employed 17 people and was renamed 'Lucien Lelong'. Lelong designed most of his own perfume bottles, taking inspiration from fabrics, garlands, feathers and modern architecture. His first ready-to-wear collection was called Robes d'Edition and was released in 1934. In 1938, he oversaw the renegotiation of collective agreements with the Chambre Syndicale's unions, primarily the socialist GCT and Christian labour unions. Lelong closed the Chambre Syndicale's school and placed Chambre secretary Daniel Gorin in charge of the organisation. effectively moving occupied France to a state-controlled economy. arguing that any attempt at relocation would kill the industry due to its fragile supply chains; his fashion house was one of those allowed to stay open during the occupation and largely catered to the wives and daughters of Nazi officers who were some of the only people allowed to buy haute couture garments. Lelong was acquitted of being a collaborator, with a judge overseeing his case ruling that his cooperation was minimal and had been done to save French workers (12,000 of whom worked in the couture industry), Raoul Dautry, the Minister of Reconstruction and Urban Development, asked Robert Ricci (the son of Nina Ricci) to come up with a fundraising idea to help with war efforts. The dolls were high wire figures with plaster faces by , a Catalan sculptor. "Nevertheless," Dior continued, "in the course of his career as couturier his collections retained a style which was really his own and greatly resembled him." and only continued his perfume business. He married for the third time in 1954, to Sanda Dancovici, after having retired in 1952. They lived together near Biarritz in the commune of Anglet, at the Domaine de Courbois, which they restored at great expense. They played golf with the Duke of Windsor and held receptions at the estate. They had a daughter, Christine.

Lelong died from complications from a stroke in May 1958 while visiting Anglet, France.

Legacy Hamish Bowles called Lelong the "fore-father of today's fashion industry titans". the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising Museum, and Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Vivien Leigh's 1940s embroidered Lelong jacket is in the collection of the Fashion Museum, Bath.

The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York held an exhibition of Lelong's work in 2006 titled Modern Master: Lucien Lelong, Couturier (1918-1948).

Lelong was played by John Malkovich in Apple TV+'s The New Look in 2024.