Letter from Dominique Mondon, Molyneux, to Avice Bowbyes

29 August, 1967

Avice Bowbyes Papers, MS-2225/007. Hocken Collections

[Paris]

British fashion designer, Edward Molyneux, was based in Paris and operated his fashion house from 1919 to 1950. Molyneux, or ‘Captain’ as he became known, fought in WWI where he lost an eye. Despite this setback, he found great success as fashion designer for the European ‘glitterati’. He created ‘luxurious clothes for the hedonistic lifestyle of international high society’ (ODNB). Known for his designs of understated elegance, Molyneux tended to use a very limited colour palette – black and navy blue with occasional flashes of colour. This letter dates from a time when the Molyneux fashion label was revived, with limited success, in the late 1960s; and despite this letter being addressed to ‘Mrs Bowbyes’, Avice never married.