Jean Louis

Jean Louis was one of the most influential costume designers in Hollywood history, shaping the visual language of American cinema for more than three decades during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. His most infamous creation was Marilyn Monroe's now-mythic nude illusion gown, worn at Madison Square Garden in 1962 when she sang "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy at his forty-fifth birthday celebration, a moment that signaled a turning point in America's cultural landscape.

Born Louis André Berthault in Paris, Jean Louis began his career in the couture fashion houses of France before moving to the United States in the late 1930s. There, his meticulous craftsmanship and intuitive understanding of the female form quickly distinguished him within Hollywood's studio system during its golden age.

At Columbia Pictures, Jean Louis rose to prominence designing for some of the era's most iconic stars, including Rita Hayworth, Kim Novak, Marlene Dietrich, Lana Tumer, Judy Holliday, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Judy Garland, and Katharine Hepbum. His work was defined by elegance and restraint and by an ability to translate fashion into cinematic language that resonated far beyond the screen. A master marketer, he was the only costume designer at Columbia granted full flim credit, emblazoned onscreen as "Gowns by Jean Louis."

Although his name has often been overshadowed by the stars he dressed, Jean Louis's legacy endures through the work of designers influenced by his onscreen vision, visible on runways, red carpets, and in the pages of fashion editorials.