'Father of haute couture' celebrated in home town

Charles Frederick Worth rose to the peak of the fashion world in the late 19th Century

Bourne is holding a weekend of celebrations to mark the bicentenary of the birth of fashion designer Charles Frederick Worth.

Worth was born in the town on 13 October 1825 and went on to revolutionise the fashion industry, becoming known as "the inventor of haute couture".

The Worth Weekend festival includes tours of Wake House, where he was born, a documentary premiere, a display of public art and a fashion show.

Alison Carr from the local Aveland History Group described him as "an amazing individual" who "survived adversity".

A House of Worth evening dress, dated 1894

Worth was "born into a middle class family" but when he was 11 years old "things took a dizzying turn in the wrong direction" when his solicitor father went bankrupt, said Ms Carr.

He left school to get a job and, a year later, moved to London where he worked in a department store.

"That's where he really started to get interested in materials and fabrics," she said.

Aged 21, he went to Paris where he eventually opened his own fashion house with a business partner in 1858.

His big break came when Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III of France, saw one of his dresses and began to commission him to make her gowns.

Within a few years he was world famous and counted Queen Victoria among his clients, as well as the celebrities and actresses of the day.

Wake House, where Worth was born, is holding tours during the festival

Worth is also credited with being the first to use live models, catwalks and clothing labels.

Filmmaker Robert Pitman has made a documentary about Worth's life, entitled Worth: 100 Years That Changed Fashion, which will be premiered in Bourne during the festival.

He said: "Worth's genius was to create intrigue and mystery around brand which set the conventions that everyone in his wake has followed.

"He was regarded by many as the most influential of fashion towards the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th Century and the inventor of haute couture."

The Charles Frederick Worth Bicentenary Weekend is being held on Saturday and Sunday.

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