A PICTURE OF GREEK TOURISM
This 1950 picture depicts a Jean Dessès “Beachcomber”, a model wearing a fishnet length converted into a necklace and festooned with miniature anchors, corks and shells. She is also donning a strapless navy piqué playsuit and a wide-brimmed raffia hat.
Given the year this look was photographed, it could reasonably be perceived as a reference to Greece as a tourist destination. 1950 marked the beginning of what is often referred to as the “golden decade of Greek tourism”. At the time, famous actors and wealthy foreign visitors had started to visit Greece while the country was also becoming popular for the shooting of international movies.
LEADING THE GOLDEN AGE OF FASHION
Born in Alexandria/Egypt to Greek parents from the island of Chios, Jean Dessès (1904 –1970) was a world leading fashion designer in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Known as the “king of mousseline”, he was particularly renowned for his draped gowns in chiffon and mousseline.
At the age of 11, young Dessès designed and helped make a dress for his mother.
He went to Paris to study law in 1924 but, in the next year, he abandoned his studies and began working for Maison Jane, a Parisian couture house. In 1937, aged 34, he opened his own couture house at 17 avenue Matignon, in the apartment once owned by the Eiffel family. He began to gain fame, gradually entering Paris’ fashion scene which was dominated by Chanel, Lanvin, Molyneux and Balenciaga. Dessès took his first steps at the same time as other new designers– Jacque Fath, Christian Dior and Pierre Balmain.
During World War II, his house remained operational while he reportedly attendedSee Taylor, Lou & McLoughlin, Marie (editors), Paris Fashion and World War Two – Global Diffusion and Nazi Control, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020., along with other fashion designers, a cocktail party celebrating the hundredth edition of a collaborationist newspaper “Les Nouveaux Temps” (11 February 1941).
SAYING “KALISPERA” TO THE WORLD
In 1946, Jean Dessès set up a company that would produce three perfumes: Celui, GymkhanaGymkhana is a British Raj term which originally referred to a place of assembly. The meaning then altered to denote a place where skill-based contests were held. Most gymkhanas have a Gymkhana Club associated with them; a term coined during the British Raj for a gentlemen’s club. and Kalispera (meaning “good evening” in Greek). Even though the first two fragrances bear names with male connotations, all three were intended for women. In 1948, in an effort to reach out to a larger group of buyers, he started producing his prêt-à-porter line for the United States. By the early 1960s, his activities increasingly shifted away from haute couture, focusing mainly on prêt-à-porter, since in his view “prêt-à-porter is the future”. At his peak of his career, he had around 200 employees.
Valentino worked with Dessès for several years in the 1950s and gained much hands-on experience, as did Guy Laroche who in the 1950s was Dessès’ assistant. Jean Dessès was the first to create a designer outfit for Olympic Airways and his uniforms were worn during 1957-1966.
In 1963, at age 60, he retired to Athens/Greece because of poor health. He died in 1970.
In the 1990s and 2000s, with the growing interest in vintage dresses, his fashion designs saw a revival.
