His signature is surmounted by a star, but the artist has the elegance to remain in the background.

A virtuoso performer of the greatest names in fashion: Dior, Balmain, Balenciaga… the most prestigious trademarks: Rouge Baiser, Scandale, Payot… or the most colourful shows: the Moulin Rouge, the Lido, the Casino de Paris… Gruau’s talent and very personal style shine through.

Gruau represents the memory of fashion but also the future, since this young man of 92 spring-times has not had the last word, nor signed his last drawing. And even if his name is not on everyone’s lips, his fashion sketches, his posters, his advertisements have all caught our eye at some time, without us even realising it… or wanting it to happen because Gruau has succeeded in elevating suggestion to a fine art form, creating images that we can now qualify as “subliminal”.

Do you remember… the tip of a black court shoe peeking through a half-open door, a leg clad in silk that suggests the most carnal celebrations. Ah! If only the door would open… but it resists, for the glory of Dior, by Gruau’s magic… and to our great disappointment.

Do you remember… the cherry-red lips of a woman, wearing a black blindfold, a sensual invitation to a furtive and anonymous kiss, with charm as indelible as the Rouge Baiser she exalts.

Do you remember… the thrilling seams of a woman climbing a ladder, to show off the indiscreet charm of Scandale’s stockings and corsets.

Even more elliptical, do you remember the Dior perfumes where a woman replaces the bottle, exalting the very spirit of the perfume through such an ellipse.

Yes, Gruau the magician plays the scales of our five sense and our fantasies with masterful extravaganza. Whether they are obscure objects of desire or inaccessible stars, Gruau’s women have not finished haunting our dreams…

Watch for that airy, sylph-like, sublime woman as you pass, with the ingenuity of Audrey Hepburn, the charm of Lauren Bacall, the mystery of Garbo and the class of Capucine: she’s a Gruau!

Sylvie Nissen