Charvet Place Vendôme

Charvet Place Vendôme (ʃaʁvɛ plas vɑ̃dɔm), or simply Charvet, is a French high-end shirt maker and tailor located at 28 Place Vendôme in Paris. It designs, produces and sells bespoke and ready-to-wear shirts, neckties, blouses, pyjamas and suits, in the Paris store and internationally through luxury retailers. The world's first ever shirt shop, Charvet was founded in 1838. Since the 19th century, it has supplied bespoke shirts and haberdashery to kings, princes and heads of state. It has acquired an international reputation for the high quality of its products, the level of its service and the wide range of its designs and colors. Thanks to the renown of its ties, charvet has become a generic name for a certain type of silk fabric used for ties. The store was founded in 1836 or in 1838 by Joseph-Christophe Charvet, known as Christofle Charvet (1809–1870). His father Jean-Pierre, native of Strasbourg, had been "curator of the wardrobe" for Napoleon Bonaparte, a position created at the beginning of the Empire. The curator assisted the chamberlain or "master of the wardrobe", who supervised all aspects of the emperor's wardrobe – updating the inventories, placing orders, paying bills, and establishing regulations. This position was initially held, between 1804 and 1811 by count Augustin de Rémusat. When it appeared in 1811 Rémusat was mismanaging the wardrobe, an inventory was requested to Jean-Pierre Charvet, and Rémusat was replaced by count Henri de Turenne d'Aynac. Christofle's uncle, Étienne Charvet, was the steward of the château de Malmaison and later of the château de Saint Cloud. Étienne Charvet's daughter Louise Caroline Catherine (1791–1861), Christofle's first cousin, married at the age of 14 Constant, Napoleon's head valet. The marriage was arranged by Napoleon himself, who signed the marriage contract. She became in 1813 a linen keeper at the château de Saint Cloud, therefore responsible for making the imperial shirts. Her portrait (Figure, right) was bequested to the Malmaison museum in 1929 by Édouard Charvet.