Born: Paris, France, 1853
Died: Paris, France, 1929
`Next to Poiret, Doucet is the most amazing personality among the men in the dressmaking world of Paris,' commented Vogue in 1914. `He is often called the most elegant man in Paris.' The celebrated house of Doucet was established in 1816 by the grandmother of Jacques Doucet. The building - a house already renowned for making fine lingerie - was situated on boulevard Saint-Martin. Maison Doucet later relocated to rue de la Paix. In 1877 it began making gowns and costumes.
Jacques Doucet was a patron of the arts, an authority on French eighteenth-century history, with an instinct for the grand occasion - he collaborated on countless theatrical productions, owned a hotel and, it is said, invested six million francs in rare books. Vogue assessed his collections as embodying `a gracious elegance and a fineness of workmanship which could not be surpassed'. In 1932, after a merger with Douillet, the house closed.
