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{{short description|American fashion designer (1890-1976)}}
{{Infobox fashion designer
|image =
|caption =
|name = Main Bocher
|birth_name = Main Rousseau Bocher
|birth_date = {{birth date|1890|10|24}}
|birth_place = [[Chicago, Illinois]], U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|1976|12|27|1890|10|24}}
|death_place =
|education = studied art at the University of Chicago and the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts
|occupation = Editor-in-chief of the French edition of Vogue
|known_for = The short evening dress; the famous beaded evening sweaters; the strapless evening gown; bare-armed blouses for suits; the costume-dyed furs
|awards = Bronze plaque on New York City's Fashion Walk of Fame
}}

'''Main Rousseau Bocher''' (October 24, 1890 – December 27, 1976), also known as '''Mainbocher''', was an American [[haute couture|couturier]] best known for the [[Mainbocher|eponymous fashion label]] he founded in 1929. Although often pronounced "Man-bo-''shay''," his name is pronounced "Maine-Bocker."<ref name=mcconathy>{{Citation | last = McConathy | first = Dale | title = American Fashion - The life and lines of Adrian, Mainbocher, McCardell, Norell and Trigère | publisher = The Fashion Institute of Technology, Quadrangle | pages = [https://archive.org/details/americanfashionl00lees/page/115 115–200] | year = 1975 | isbn = 0-8129-0524-5 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/americanfashionl00lees/page/115 }}</ref>

== Early life ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=June 2016}}
Bocher was a native of [[Chicago]], where he studied at the Lewis Institute, now the [[Illinois Institute of Technology]], and the [[Chicago Academy of Fine Arts]]. He served in intelligence during [[World War I]] and stayed in Paris after the war, working as a [[fashion illustrator]] for ''[[Harper's Bazaar]]'', as Paris fashion editor for ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]'' (1922-1929), and eventually became the editor-in-chief of the [[Vogue Paris|French edition of ''Vogue '']] in early 1927. Main Bocher's decision to become a couturier grew out of his years as editor at ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]''; he realized that his critical eye and his feeling for fashion might also serve him as a designer.

== Innovations ==

Mainbocher's innovations include short evening dresses; beaded evening sweaters; the [[strapless dress|strapless]] evening gown; bare-armed blouses for suits; costume-dyed furs (black mink and black sealskin); novel uses for [[batiste]], [[voile]], [[organdy]], piqué, [[linen]], and embroidered [[muslin]]; the waistcinch; man-tailored dinner suits; bows instead of hats; the principle of the simple dress with many tie-ons (shirt-like aprons, changeable jackets); the sari evening dress; the "bump" shoulder (a sort of modified leg-o'-mutton sleeve) on suits and coats; the evening version of the "tennis dress," a white evening dress with "V" neck and stole; the revival of crinolines; and the rain suit.<ref name=mcconathy/>

==Legacy==
In 2002, Mainbocher was honored with a bronze plaque on New York City's Fashion Walk of Fame in the legendary garment district.

[[Christian Dior]] said of him, "Mainbocher is really in advance of us all, because he does it in America."<ref>[[The New York Times]], ''Mainbocher Stands for a Fitting'', March 25, 1956</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Grands couturiers}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bocher, Main}}
[[Category:American fashion designers]]
[[Category:Fashion illustrators]]
[[Category:1890 births]]
[[Category:1976 deaths]]
[[Category:Artists from Chicago]]
[[Category:University of Chicago alumni]]
[[Category:School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni]]
[[Category:American magazine editors]]
[[Category:Vogue (magazine) editors]]
[[Category:Vogue France]]

Main Bocher - Revision history

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