#24. A Look at Lucie Porges' Exquisite Sketches for Pauline Trigère

Sketches by Lucie Porges for Pauline Trigère

Lucie Porge sketches

Lucie Porges was undoubtedly Pauline’s most important associate and closest collaborator starting from when she was hired in 1951 until the firm closed in 1993. 

After a phone interview with Lucie's two daughters: Claudia and Vivette, I made an appointment at Parsons School of Design in NYC, where their mother Lucie taught fashion design and sketching classes after the closure of House of Trigère. With the help of the Parson's archivists, the curator and her team prepared five boxes full of Lucie Porges sketches, newspaper clippings and teaching materials. We spent two full days going through all the boxes and discovered hundred of sketches by Lucie.

Trigère stated in an interview that when Lucie was pregnant with her first child:  Claudia, Pauline's desire was to have Lucie deliver her baby on the sample room cutting table; implying the indispensable part Lucie was to the Trigère business.  In fact, Lucie went back to work two weeks after delivering her first daughter.  Lucie was an invaluable collaborator throughout the Trigère business, especially in the collection development process. 

Lucie was born in Vienna in November 23, 1926. During the tumultuous time when Jewish people were being attacked in Europe in the late 1930's, the family escaped and lived in several different cities, until finally they settled in Switzerland just prior to WWII. Lucie enrolled in Ecole des Beaux Arts in Geneva and focused her studies on drawing.  She later moved to Paris in 1948 and worked for a few different Parisian fashion houses in the marketing department. With Pauline born in Paris and Lucie born in Vienna, they both shared European roots and frequently spoke in French to each other, to the extent that staff members thought they were sisters. Lucie quickly became part of the Trigère organization at the senior management level. 

Since Pauline did not sketch, Lucie was an essential part in communicating Pauline’s muslin drapings to the pattern makers. By sketching them with detailed seaming placements and indicating each sample with the correct fabric swatches and supervising the sample making process.  In addition to sketching all of Pauline’s draped silhouettes and collection catalogs, she also assisted in booking models, organizing fashion shows and selecting photographers. Outside the office, Pauline and Lucie often attended social functions together including industry events and charity balls. A separate blog with the two women's close relationship can be found {here}.