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Abstract
Textile converter Garigue (founded in 1947 in London, United Kingdom) and manufacturer Agnona (established in 1953 in Borgosesia, Italy) both became, shortly after their foundation, notable haute couture woolen suppliers. The House of Balenciaga played a crucial role in their success. This paper will analyze the history of these businesses and the marketing strategies they employed in order to gain the favor of Balenciaga, an alliance that became a profitable strategy in itself. These two case studies will contribute to the scarce literature on the textile suppliers whose products informed Cristobal Balenciaga’s creations.
Acknowledgements
This paper would have never been possible without the extraordinary attention and contribution of Laurent Garigue, son of Edmund Garigue. I would like to extend my most sincere gratitude to archivist Donatella Basla from the Archivi del Gruppo Ermenegildo Zegna and to Gaspard Demassé from Archives Balenciaga for their significant support, which has proved essential. Finally, to Prof Lesley E. Miller, a master, through whose hands it all began.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Supplemental data
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/1362704X.2021.1905949
Correction Statement
This article was originally published with errors, which have now been corrected in the online version. Please see Correction (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1362704X.2021.1922184)
Notes
1 (My translation from the original in French) “Balenciaga was terrible for his fabric selection. He touched them for a long time before making any decision. When he barely felt a fabric and he passed it onto the person sat next to him, that meant he was uninterested in that cloth.” (Pierre Ducharne, quoted in François Ducharne. 1975. “Souvenirs. En ce temps-là, la soie.” In Les folles annés de la soie. Lyon. Musée des Tissus de Lyon, quoted in Charpigny Citation2005, 29–30)
2 I was limited to Mellon’s, as these were available online at the Cristobal Balenciaga Museoa, where they are held. Further systematic quantitative analysis should be conducted, comparing purchases by a wider sample of clients. Supplemental Material
3 Garigue (now Laurent Garigue) has evolved into a supplier of a diversified range of fabrics but remains a family business, operating to the highest standards.
4 Since 1999 part of the Gruppo Ermenegildo Zegna.
5 “By 1958 there were no less than 1,493 firms with (merchant) converting activities handling 2,030 million square yards, with 77 per cent having no formal links with weavers” (Maguire Citation1993, 102).
6 “Between 1947 and 1951 Italy received more than $250 million in American aid, of which more than $20 million went to the textile industry” (Rosina Citation2014, 76).
7 Edmund Garigue was the son of Gisele Burke (1890-?) and Polish-born, naturalized French citizen Joseph Garigue (1887–1922).
8 See: Centro Studi Biellesi, Centro di Documentazione dell'Industria Tessile, Fondo Manifattura Lane di Borgosesia-Borgosesia Spa.
9 Archivio di Stato di Vercelli (A.S.V), Sezione di Varallo, Enzo Barbano, Francesco Ilorini Mo, Lions Club Valsesia, 2002.
10 See: Anita Shreve.1982. “Sheer Elegance.” Conneisseur, November 1982, p.139 or his obituary, A.S.V, Sezione di Varallo, Enzo Barbano, Francesco Ilorini Mo, Lions Club Valsesia, 2002.
11 A.S.V, Sezione di Varallo, Comune di Borgosesia, Enzo Barbano, Francesco Ilorini Mo, Lions Club Valsesia, 2002.
12 Archivi del Gruppo Ermenegildo Zegna (A.G.E.Z), Fondo Agnona, Antonio Tarchetti. 1977. “Profili di protaginisti. Francesco Ilorini.”
13 Each share amounted to 50,000 Italian lire in 1953 (equivalent to approximately $952 in 2020). A.G.E.Z, Fondo Agnona, Appunti sulla storia aziendale Agnona.
14 Agnona grew quickly. In 1955, Agnona hired at least another eight employees, including a weaver, a warper, an apprentice and a washer. (A.S.V, Sezione di Varallo, Comune di Borgosesia, cartella 907, Elenco dell variazioni degli operai della ditta Lanerie Agnona). By 1963, Agnona had 700 looms in use (WWD, December 3, 1963), and by 1972 it employed 700 workers (Barbara Rowlands, “Following the Golden Fleece…to Italy,” Country Life, December 13, 1972. A.G.E.Z, Fondo Agnona, Rassegna Stampa.).
15 At the Archives Balenciaga, the first Garigue fabrics to be documented were in Balenciaga’s 1953 winter collection.
16 A.S.V, Sezione di Varallo, Lanificio Ing. Loro Piana & C di Quadrona, cartella 2627, Clienti Strannieri. By tracing the origins of the fabrics French wholesalers supplied to haute couture, Anderson’s argument that Balenciaga “overwhelmingly bought tweeds from French manufacturers and agents” can be nuanced. (Anderson Citation2017, 134).
17 “[Fantasie sur] le « Diable », qui est une des grandes réussites de Garigue. Ce tissu sport, très nerveux, plaît infiniment à la Haute Couture.”
18 See also: “Garigue Showing New Fall Lace Tweeds.” WWD, December 10, 1957.
19 Agnona sold a 100% vicuna fabric 59 inches wide at $100/yard (£35). Agnona made only 10 pieces/year (800yards), as stated by Agnona’s employee Angelo Marchesini in an interview in WWD, December 3, 1963. This is twelve times the price of a 100% woolen fabric by Garigue sold in the UK in that same year. Garigue sold a wool tweed 54 inches wide for between £2.17s 16d/yard) ($6.08) to £4.9s ($13.70), as reported in “Collector’s cuttings” in Harper’s Bazaar (London), August 1963.
20 On Loro Piana’s and Agnona’s insight into the alpaca and vicuna trade, see: A.S.V, Sezione di Varallo, Comune di Borgosesia, Lanificio Ing. Loro Piana & C di Quadrona, Memoria sulla storia dell’alpaca, cartella 2639.
21 Another Milan-based tailor also praised Agnona’s fabrics: (my translation from the original in Italian) “[…] the Agnona’s fabric with which your grey suit was made is among the best in the market, it adapts perfectly well to all the tailoring requirements.” A.G.E.Z, Fondo Agnona, Libri di Campioni Aplicatti II, Letter from Baratta, Milano via Monforte 3 to Ilorini, Lanificio Agnona. Borgosessia, Milan, May 14, 1957.
22 A.G.E.Z, Fondo Agnona, Libri di Campioni Aplicatti II, Letter from Brink & Kappel Ltd Tailors, 22 Sackville Street, London, to Mr Francesco Ilorini Mo, Agnona, Borgosesia, May 14, 1957.
23 Garigue remained there until 1981.
24 (My translation from the original in Italian) “His skills undoubtedly encompassed that of creating a character of his own.” A.S.V, Sezione di Varallo, Enzo Barbano, Francesco Ilorini Mo, Lions Club Valsesia, 2002.
25 A.S.V, Sezione di Varallo, Enzo Barbano, Francesco Ilorini Mo, Lions Club Valsesia, 2002.
26 Ibid.
27 A.G.E.Z, Fondo Agnona, Rassegna Stampa.
28 A.S.V, Sezione di Varallo, Enzo Barbano, Francesco Ilorini Mo, Lions Club Valsesia, 2002.
29 A.G.E.Z, Fondo Agnona, Antonio Tarchetti. 1977. “Profili di protaginisti. Francesco Ilorini.”
30 (My translation from the original in Italian) “I have only attended elementary school. My father was an electritian, my mother a farmer. When I turned twelve, I became a textile worker. That’s why there is such a great connection. We understand each other, the workers and I, at a human level. Everything is just beautiful!” (Ilorini Mo quoted by Lucchetta 2002–2003, 231).
31 COVID-19 has prevented me from tracing all the reviews.
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Victoria de Lorenzo
Victoria de Lorenzo is a PhD candidate at the University of Glasgow with a Lord Kelvin – Adam Smith scholarship. https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/mlc/study/postgraduatestudy/currentpostgraduates/victoriadelorenzo/# [email protected]