Mainbocher, b.

Mainbocher (b. Main Rousseau Bocher)

(1891–1976) fashion designer; born in Chicago. He studied art and music in Chicago, then served in World War I. After the war, he stayed in Paris, working as a fashion artist with Harper's Bazaar, then as editor of French Vogue until 1929. He started a couture house there in 1930. He designed the wedding dress for Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor (1937) as well as stage clothing for stars such as Mary Martin, Ruth Gordon and Tallulah Bankhead. He opened a ready-to-wear salon in New York in 1940, and returned to Paris in 1971.