Emile Pingat
Emile Pingat was yet another extremely popular and sought after French haute couture designer and dressmaker working in Paris during the same time as his competitor, Charles Frederick Worth. Born in 1820, he was a part of the haute couture revolution that occurred in Paris during the middle to the end of the nineteenth century. Like Charles Frederick Worth, Pingat was well known among the upper and royal classes throughout Europe before the Franco Prussian War. After the war he became extremely popular among American women who were willing to pay the price and travel to Paris for an extravagant design.
Pingat opened a haute couture business in 1864 at the address of 30 Rue Louis-Le-Grand, Paris. Pingat and Charles Frederick Worth quickly became rivals and competitors, even though the two designers have different design styles. Worth and Pingat designed very differently, and had extremely different tastes when it came to dressmaking and design. Pingat in particular was understood to be known for monochrome designs with subtle uses of color.
Many of the newly rich Americans had an obsession surrounding French haute couture and designs. Pingat’s haute couture house quickly became a favorite destination and a priority for the American upper classes. Pingat’s designs became so popular he began to sell licensed designs to stores and dressmakers in America. Pingat’s designs and sewing patterns were even featured in Harper’s Bazaar, which allowed other classes who had the knowledge and talent to sew, access to his designs, for a much lower price.
Beginning in the 1880s, Pingat developed a reputation for dolmans, jackets, evening coats, day coats, and outerwear with various trims and patterned fabrics. A dolman jacket is defined as a type of outerwear, and was specifically made to be paired with the classic bustle during the 1880’s. Pingat also was well known and loved for his artistic rendition of trims such as feathers and various kinds of silks.
Pingat designs feature prominent use of unique pattern, color, and fabric and always used impressive textiles in his designs and dressmaking. While he chose monochromatic colors and trim, Pingat’s designs were considered extremely elegant and were worn by many upper class women throughout Europe and America. He is also well known for his use of negative space, which created glamorous contrast with the bold colors, trims, and patterns. Pingat frequently used accents of bows and ruffles especially on the skirts and bodices of his designs. He also has been known to use stripe patterned fabric, tassels, and beaded details. Pingat differed from his competitor, Charles Frederick Worth, by using more muted and subdued colors such as black, cream, blue, maroon, and brown. Occasionally a design featuring a bright teal color will show up as well, but it is clear from the museum's collections of his work that he favored darker colors. Pingat’s designs had an element of simplicity and elegance that showed through his unique and bold choices of patterns and unique usage of trims. His designs are also extremely stereotypically French, with his excessive use of ruffles, bows, tulle, and tassels.
The extremely popular designs of Pingat were extremely sought after for a solid 30 years towards the end of the nineteenth century. He has unfortunately not received the recognition that his competitor, Charles Frederick Worth, has obtained. Pingat did not have children or hiers to carry on his successful and popular business like Worth, so when he became ready to retire, he sold his haute couture business and moved on. He sold his legacy to A. Wallès & Cie, and by August of 1896, virtually watched his name and business pass away from the haute couture world. Pingat’s name and designs virtually disappeared from the knowledge of the fashion world after he sold his business and legacy.
Despite the fact that Emile Pingat’s designs were extremely popular during his time as a designer, dressmaker, and business owner, his life and legacy still remains very much a mystery to fashion scholars. There is very little information and scholarly knowledge about Pingat and his history. Who Pingat was as a person is almost unknown, but there is more historical evidence of his extreme success that has been discovered more recently. However, many of Pingat’s designs are housed in museums today, with a sizable collection belonging to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Emile Pingat passed away in 1901.