Pauline Trigère

Pauline Trigère (November 4, 1908 – February 13, 2002) was a French and American couturière. She was famous in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s. She designed novelties such as the jumpsuit, the sleeveless coat, the reversible cape and the embroidered sheer bodice.

Early life Trigère was born in Paris to Russian Jewish parents in the 9th Arrondissement, next to "Place Pigalle" Her father Alexandre was a tailor, while her mother Cecile was a dressmaker. Trigère was a proficient seamstress by age ten, often assisting her mother in altering women's clothes, and she designed her first dress in her early teens. At that age, however, Trigère was more interested in medicine than in fashion: she later noted that, despite dreams of becoming a surgeon, Alexandre forbade it ("he didn't want me playing with cadavers"). There she honed her expertise in cutting and designing women's clothing, as well as met her husband, Lazar Radley, in 1929.

Career Uneasy about the looming Nazi threat, the Radleys departed Paris for Argentina, making a pit stop in New York City, in 1936. Convinced to remain in the United States by fellow designer Adele Simpson, Trigère found work first with Ben Gershal and later with Travis Banton at Hattie Carnegie.

She later described her label as born out of economic necessity rather than desire for fame: "there was no drive because I wanted to become a great designer. I had two small children and a mother and we all had to eat. That's the drive I had." A group of American department store executives purchased the dresses and, one year later, Trigère took over Carnegie's lease and opened Trigère Inc.

In 1961, Trigère hired model Beverly Valdes as her house model, and became one of the first high-status fashion houses in the United States to hire an African-American model.

In December 1973, Trigère traveled to Mount Mary University to give a demonstration of her cutting and draping techniques, appraise students works, and speak to them about her insights into the fashion industry.

Trigère ceased to take part in fashion weeks and closed her ready-to-wear storefront in 1994, moving out of her Seventh Avenue storefront to a smaller space in the Fashion District. There she established P.T. Concepts, a firm offering her scarves and jewelry. Trigère closed P.T. Concepts in 2000. Her signature turtle appeared in many of her printed fabrics. Los Angeles Times writer Bettijane Levine described the glamour of Trigère's clothing: "They seem to lend stature or stage presence even to those who don't look commanding in some other designer's outfits. By virtue of their couture-type structure and tailoring, they make even average-height women look statuesque."

Trigère became the first significant designer to employ an African-American fashion model In response, one major Memphis store threatened to pull their business but when Trigère held firm, the store relented and continued to buy her fashions.

In 1992, Trigère celebrated her 50th anniversary in fashion with benefit fashion show and dinner for 600 guests at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan. In 1993, Trigère received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

Pauline Trigère's papers are held by Brandeis University Archives & Special Collections. More than thirty Trigère dresses and ensembles are housed at the Kent State University Museum Designer Archives, and her sketchbooks can be viewed by appointment at the June F. Mohler Fashion Library, located in Rockwell Hall. You can also find a selection of her garments in the Oklahoma Fashion Museum Collection, this includes a black & gold evening ensemble, a gold evening ensemble, and a full length two-piece red silk formal ensemble.

In 2021, creative director Franklin Benjamin Elman leads design for the Trigère collection.