Carven is a ready-to-wear brand founded in 1945 by Carmen de Tommaso. The style of the house is that of refined Parisiennes, as comfortable on the terrace of a café as in a library, beautiful day and night.

The name of the brand is the contraction of the first name of the founder, Carmen, and Boyriven, the surname of her aunt.

Carmen de Tommaso is one of the very first designers to have made luxury accessible and modern, by bringing a breath of spontaneity, inspired by everyday life. Carven dressed Edith Piaf, signed the wedding dress for Valéry Giscard d´Estaing's companion, and, in 1954, parachuted samples of her perfume, Ma Griffe, over Paris. During the 1960s, Carven Uniforms became the outfit of many airlines. The inauguration, in 1974, of the Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport, was even done in uniforms signed Carven, and attests to the liveliness of the brand, which also dressed French athletes during the Olympic Games in Montreal in 1976. .

After this golden period, the house becomes more confidential, until the appointment of Guillaume Henry as head of artistic direction, which puts the house back in the spotlight. He left his post in 2014, replaced by Alexis Martial and Adrien Caillaudaud.

Carven

Fall/Winter 2013 • Womenswear

REVIEWS | Carven