Hélène Rochas, the French elegance icon, died at 84.

San Francisco Fashion Week 2011.

Héléne Rochas and her feminine touch

[googlead tip=”patrat_mic” aliniat=”dreapta”]Hélène Rochas, icon of the Parisian elegance and businesswoman died on August, 6 at 84.

 

Hélène Rochas, icon of the Parisian elegance and businesswoman who took over the famous Rochas perfumes house  in 1955, died on August, 6 in her 84th year, announced today her children, according to AFP.

“The funeral took place today in the strictest privacy. A religious homage will be celebrated in September,”said the two children of Mrs. Rochas, in a statement through a law firm in Paris. Questioned by AFP, the law firm was not able to specify the location and cause of death nor the location of the funeral.

 

[googlead tip=”lista_mica” aliniat=”stanga”]Former model, born in 1927, Hélène Rochas married the designer Marcel Rochas in 1944. After Marcel Rochas’ death in 1955, she had resumed the reins of the Rochas’ company, “becoming the youngest business leader of France,” the statement said. She retained this position until 1971.

 

“She was really the icon of French elegance. This is the end of a myth, of an era. She was the muse of one of the great couturiers, the last who remain alive at that time,”

a Rochas house’s official told AFP.

Friend of Françoise Sagan, close to Yves Saint-Laurent, Hélène Rochas attended arts and fashion groups, before retiring in recent years from public life.

[googlead tip=”vertical_mic”]Rochas fragrances were made in collaboration with perfumers Jacques Cavallier, Michel Almairac, Nicolas Mamounas, Alberto Morillas, Quest, Jean-Michel Duriez, Edmond Roudnitska, Amandine Marie, Roger Pellegrino, Guy Robert, Theresa Roudnitska, Anne Flipo, Maurice Roucel and Christopher Sheldrake.

The earliest edition of Rochas perfume, “Air Jeune” was created in 1936 and had been withdrawn from sales at the beginning of the war.

In 1931, Marcel Rochas (29 year-old) opened his fashion house on 12 Matignon Avenue. His customers are, among others, Hollywood stars, as Carole Lombard, Marlène Dietrich, etc…

For the actress Mae West, Marcel Rochas have created a black wasp-waisted corset of chantilly.

In 1944, Edmond Roudnitska created for Rochas the perfume « Femme » in an amphora bottle inspired by the shapes of a woman, designed by Marcel Rochas and Albert Gosset. This will be proposed to the public in 1945, equipped with black lace.

In 1955, with the death of Marcel Rochas (53 year-old), the fashion house were closed. Marcel Rochas partner decided to continue the perfumery activity and he asked Hélène Rochas to be the company president. She was 28 year-old and was one of the youngest business leaders of France. She will remain with the Rochas perfumes house until 1971.