Marie-Blanche de Polignac, by David Gaillardon: the discreet one

Perhaps you know the Arpège perfume, by Lanvin. On the bottle, a drawing: a mother and her daughter, dancing in unison. The first, Jeanne Lanvin, builder of a haute couture empire. His daughter, pianist and muse adored, then unjustly forgotten, resurrected here by David Gaillardon. To understand a little of their relationship, you have to follow them for a walk in the Champs-Élysées gardens. Where the other children are frolicking, the little infanta is frozen in extravagant outfits. They dress her up as Juno’s bird, “bubbled silk dresses», «touches of bleus hydrangeas».

Marguerite is already adorable, but feels ridiculous and will remember these doll fittings with horror all her life. Disappointed by two marriages, Jeanne Lanvin places freedom very high and gives her daughter, who must never depend on anyone, an elite education. It is perhaps because “Ririte” is stifling that she takes refuge in her scales, revealing a sure and sensitive playing on the piano. The fairies did not shun his cradle