Jeanne-Marc

Jeanne-Marc was established in 1973 by wife and husband team Jeanne Allen and Marc Grant. After graduating college in 1968, Seattle native Jeanne Allen moved to England. She began her design career at the fledgling Design Research Society, and met future husband Marc Grant. In 1970 the couple worked for Finnish design firm, Marimekko, but left to begin their own design business in Brighton, England in 1971. Eventually they moved to San Francisco and began Jeanne-Marc.

The brand was known for colorful and whimsical appliqué and mixed print garments of their own design. Made from Japanese and Italian fabrics and sewn at its local factory, the high-end boho chic line was sold in Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf-Goodman, as well as their own boutique, located at 262 Sutter Street. In 1988, Jeanne-Marc won the Golden Shears Award – a local award for best fashion design, and in 1992, Jeanne Allen was elected to the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

Allen and Grant were champions for progressive social values and environmental responsibility. Their large factory served as an environmentally-friendly business model, whose workers operated energy-efficient sewing machines, practiced water conservation and recycled all materials. The couple went on to create the Green Ribbon Panel of the San Francisco Small Business Advisory Commission, whose mission was to “promote environmentally sound practices among small businesses and to publicize small companies run with ecological efficiency”. They closed the business in 1997 to pursue other creative endeavors.

Written by Ranch Queen Vintage