Lucile Ltd: London, Paris, New York and Chicago: 1890s-1930s

Mrs Lucy Wallace, Lady Duff Gordon as she became, transformed her business from a modest home-based dressmakers into the leading international fashion enterprise, Lucile Limited, with salons in London, Paris, New York and Chicago and her work was ranked alongside Jacques Doucet and Paul Poiret by the fashion media. Her lavish and alluring fashions attracted a prestigious and famous bevy of Edwardian beauties including Georgina, Countess of Dudley, Lillie Langtry and Lily Elsie. This unique book is based upon the V&A's unpublished Lucile archive and focuses on 'Lucile Limited's Autumn 1905' fashion album, which features hand-painted plates and samples of luxurious fabrics and trimmings. Also drawing on Lady Duff Gordon's intriguing autobiography, her story gives valuable insights into the rarefied world of high society and the extraordinary times through which she lived.