Fashion designer Jacqueline de Ribes dies

Nicknamed the “last queen of Paris,” Countess Jacqueline de Ribes, a fashion designer, businesswoman, jet-set figure and symbol of Parisian elegance, particularly in the United States, died on Tuesday at the age of 96, her office said on Wednesday, speaking on behalf of the family.

Jacqueline de Ribes died in Switzerland, her assistant, Stéphanie Mouly, told AFP.

A friend of Yves Saint Laurent and Valentino, and a patron of the arts and philanthropist, she was honoured by New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2015 with an exhibition featuring around 60 haute couture and ready-to-wear ensembles- the earliest dating from 1962- preserved by “the last queen of Paris.”

As early as 1956, Jacqueline de Ribes appeared on the list of the world’s best-dressed women. In 1962, she was inducted into the Fashion Hall of Fame and celebrated by the world’s leading fashion photographers.

Born Jacqueline de La Bonninière de Beaumont on 14 July 1929, the freedom-loving aristocrat, passionate about fashion since childhood, married Viscount (later Count) Edouard de Ribes (1923-2013) at age 19.

In 1962, she tried her hand at journalism, theatre, television, and interior design, and told friends and family that she would create her own fashion house, encouraged by Yves Saint Laurent, whose client she was.

Her first collection was hailed by the international press, and the US soon became her primary market. She ran her couture house until 1995, when she retired for health reasons.

At the end of 2019, the auction of works from the collection amassed with her husband raised €22.8 million at Sotheby’s France, including pre-emptions by the Louvre and the Palace of Versailles.