Callot Soeurs at the origin of the Hermes Dog Collar belt

THE PERFUMES OF COUTURIERS

Fashion Perfume Bottle Hermès Couture Dog collar Médor Years 1925

Presentation

Callot Soeurs is a French fashion house opened in 1895, 24 rue Taitbout in Paris 9e, founded by four sisters. The eldest of the sisters, Marie (wife Gerber), who showed a taste for dressmaking at a very young age, was trained by her mother, a lacemaker. Madeleine Vionnet was an apprentice at Callot Soeurs until 1906 and had nothing but good things to say about this fashion house.

In 1914, the small company, in full expansion, moved to large premises at 9-11 Avenue Matignon. In 1920 Marie Gerber took over the business under her own name until her death in 1927. Her son, Pierre, succeeded her in 1928. He was hit hard by the 1929 crisis and had to sell. Bought in 1937 by Marie-Louise Calvet, the Callot Soeurs company closed in 1953.

In 1988, the Lummen family bought the rights to Callot Soeurs, then in 1995 those of Madeleine Vionnet.

Les parfums Callot Soeurs

The prestigious Christies auction house in France is located in the former Maison de couture de Callot Soeurs, a private mansion located at 9-11 avenue Matignon, Paris 8e.

Avenue Matignon by Callot Soeurs-Paris,

paperweight bottle in its gilded cardboard tray case, 1925

Bottle and its case in two loose parts

At the threshold of its glory, Callot Soeurs launched several perfumes, including the mythical and rare "Avenue Matignon" in 1925. The model shown above, straight out of the Callot attics, still bears its original labels. One of the labels indicates the double function of the container. Indeed the bottle has the shape, volume and weight of a paperweight.

Labels under the bottle

The first Callot Soeurs-Paris fragrance was released in 1923.

Pioupiou, cira 1923 - La fille du roi de Chine, 1923

Chichicallot, 1923

Mariage d'amour, c. 1925 - presentation box

La cabine des mannequins, circa 1925

Bel oiseau bleu

La cabine des mannequins, c. 1925, other presentations

La fille du roi de Chine, 1923

La fille du Roi de Chine, 1923

Il pleut des baisers, 1923

Chypre, c. 1923

Louis d'or, 1923

Bel oiseau bleu, 1923

Chichicallot, 1923

Pioupiou, c. 1923

Avenue Matignon, 1925

La cabine des mannequins, c. 1925

T.S.F.

L'enfer

Le sourire de Cocéa

•••

Jeep, c.1940

Bao, 1947

Mariage d'Amour

Dieu du Jour, 1947

Seine et Oise

Bao, 1947 - Mariage d'amour, 1947, other présentation

Belt Hermès Collier de chien ... An idea by Callot Soeurs

In 1927, the most daring of the Callot sisters, Marie Gerber, was looking for a belt to accessorise her designs. She asked Hermès to extend a dog collar with studs and bells to make a belt.

With its legendary flair, Hermès produced its first belt in the Collier de chien style in 1949, called Créneau. The model evolved into a bracelet, a model that is always avant-garde at Hermès, under very evocative names.