This is a plate taken from the Gazette du Bon Ton, a hugely influential fashion magazine published between November 1912 and December 1925 (with a break during World War I) by Lucien Vogel. This magazine published the latest fashion styles aiming at an exclusively elite market available only to subscribers. Vogel established contracts to represent the fashions of a number of well-known fashion houses including that of Paul Poiret, Jacques Doucet, Worth, Paquin Beers, and Lanvin. Alongside this the magazine included theatre reviews and essays. In the first edition Vogel said ‘The clothing of women is a pleasure for the eye that cannot be judged inferior to the other arts’. To illustrate the designs of the fashion houses he employed the most prominent avant-garde artists and the plates produced in richly hand-coloured stencil technique of Pochoir that defined the Art Deco illustration style. The illustrations did not just represent the fashion designs but placed them in settings reflecting modern lifestyles and interiors. Many of the artists later went on to work for important American magazines such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.

André Edouard Marty (1882-1974) was one of the premier artists of Art Deco style, producing illustrations as well as designs for theatre cinema and ceramics and jewelery. He was a central designer for the Gazette, featuring in every year of publication. He also contributed to other important magazines such as Modes et Manières d’Aujord-hui and Fémina, and in America Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar.