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The Jacques Fath Archives

Whenever I get Neiman Marcus’ Christmas Book, I always flip through straight to the Fantasy Gifts first. I always wonder, what have they come up with? Well, this year, Neiman’s does not disappoint. They’ve got a charter to space via Virgin Galactic for 1.764 million dollars and a lifetime membership at a world class luxury resort in Tuscany among others.

Neiman Marcus also has something for the serious (and seriously wealthy) fashionphile: the House of Fath Archives. While not a household name in modern times, Frenchman Jacques Fath had an illustrious career more than half a century ago. He started his couture business in 1937 and dressed elegant celebrities like Rita Hayworth, Ava Gardner, Greta Garbo. His apprenticeships launched the careers of Hubert de Givenchy and Guy Laroche. He also helped launch the New Look of the late 1940s. Fath met an untimely death in 1954 and two years later, his widow closed the couture line.

This museum-quality collection includes 26 volumes of original sketchbooks from 1948 through 1956, with more than 3,400 couture designs. The collection also includes three exquisite Fath haute couture dresses, each with its accompanying sketch…. With this archive, the possibilities are monumental. Endow a wing of your favorite museum with a comprehensive overview of fashion history or launch your own research center to inspire the Faths of tomorrow.

A great collection indeed! The dresses in the photo above just look exquisite, don’t they? Now, if I only had some spare $3.5 million lying around.