1841 : After eight years as a journeyman working with ‘master suit tailors’, Alexis Lavigne opened a shop in Paris to realize - along with thousands of other tailors - custom-made clothing for men. He was one of the industry’s first theoreticians. With his inventive spirit, He devised the soft tape measure, the dress form, the brush recipient which could make a dress form in ten minutes plus many tracing tools for garments. From his workrooms near the Tuileries in Paris, he rapidly became well-known in the city’s social circles.
After being designated the tailor for Empress Eugenie’s riding outfits, he used this notoriety to write in defence of his profession and its community. As a fervent humanist, he long advocated the benefits of education by publishing a « cutting method » in 1841 which was subsequently re-edited and transformed many times. He also opened his workshop to anyone wishing to learn the art of tailoring.
His descendants abandoned clothing production to concentrate on teaching, The school, which became ESMOD Guerre-Lavigne and then ESMOD, has published and used the same work methods since the early days of the first workroom. Today ESMOD is renowned for its history and innovative know-how in the areas of fashion creation and marketing. having today expanded to a worldwide, 22-school network, the last two years have seen ESMOD Editions take a sharper direction by renewing its reference books and developing editorial collections for a French and English-speaking public.
