LUCILE

(1863-1935)  Lucile was born Lucy Southerland in London.  She opened her dressmaking business, Lucile, Ltd, in 1891.  Lucile was a leading designer of the first two decades of the 20th Century, and along with her business in London, opened branches in New York in 1909, and in Chicago and Paris in 1911.

She was known for the lovely tea gowns she designed for her high society and celebrity clients,  She herself was a member of this class, having married Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon in 1900.  Lady Duff Gordon was probably most associated with dancer Irene Castle, but she also designed for the stage including "The Merry Widow" in 1907 (which  started a trend for the "Merry Widow" hat) and for Ziegfeld's Follies.

Lucile's designs had a soft extravagance about them that, after the end of WWI, was out of step with the needs of modern women.  She sold her London business in 1918.  Lady Duff Gordon continued working in the US and Paris, but those shops were closed sometime in the in the 1920s or early 30s.