George Barbier, born in 1882 in Nantes, was only 29 years old when he mounted his first exhibition in 1911. The exhibition immediately led him to start a lucky career as dessinateur, with commissions to design theatre and ballet costumes, to illustrate books, and to produce fashion illustrations for Haute Couture.

His graphic style was typical of the Art Deco school, visibly influenced by Orientalism, Indian miniatures, Ballet Russes and Parisian Haute Couture. His very precisely-illustrated fashion vignettes are evocative of the upper-class lifestyle of the 1920s.

"L'Orgueil". Fashion plate by George Barbier, colour process engraving, Falbalas et Fanfreluches. Almanach des modes. Hand-coloured process engraving. Paris, 1924. Courtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum. ©George Barbier CC BY NC

After his studies at the Excole des Beaux Arts, Barbier was at the head of a group of artists, nicknamed by the magazine Vogue ‘The Knights of the Bracelet’, because of their fashionable and flamboyant mannerisms and style of dress. This élite circle also included Bernard Boutet de Monvel, Pierre Brissaud, Paul Iribe, Georges Lepape and Charles Martin.

Among many other collaborations, Barbier worked closely with the fashion designer Erté, firstly designing sets and costumes for Le Folies Bergère and later, in 1929, writing the introductory text for Erté’s acclaimed exhibition.

Silk fabric designed by Georges Barbier for Bianchini-Férier. 1920. Courtesy of Les Arts Décoratifs, Paris. All rights reserved

Apart from his artworks, Barbier was also a skilled journalist, writing stories and society news for a variety of magazines. He worked with some of the best writers and journalists of his days, contributing to ‘La Gazette du Bon Ton’ and ‘Le Vie Parisienne’, where he pioneered the use of pochoirs or stencils for the publication of his color-plates.

Although his career lasted only about twenty years – he died at the very pinnacle of his success in 1932 – George Barbier has been one of the most prestigious French artist and illustrators of the early twentieth century; he is also a central figure to understand the relationship between art and fashion in Paris in this key moment for the development of couture as ‘the world of dreams’.

Title-plate by George Barbier, colour process engraving, Falbalas et Fanfreluches. Almanach des modes. Hand-coloured process engraving. Paris, 1926. Courtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum. ©George Barbier CC BY NC

His plates can be found in many public and private collections. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, for instance, holds a copy of Falbalas and Fanfreluches, and the images of it are part of the Europeana Fashion portal. Falbalas and Fanfreluches was one of Barbier’s most succesful publications, and also one of the several luxury magazines designed exclusively for the collector’s market by popular illustrators and artists during the 1910s and 1920s; It consists of a series of pochoir-printed portfolios, which developes as a catalogue of various liaisons and amours.

Browse George Barbier and discover more amazing items by the illustrator on the Europeana Fashion Portal.