The Inspirations and Designs of Ana De Pombo

Abstract

Ana de Pombo (1889 -1985) was a Spanish born fashion designer living and working in Paris, France in the 1920s-1940s. Popular and well known in her time, she is little known by historians and the public today. At the height of her career in the mid-1930s, de Pombo was the lead designer for the House of Paquin (1891-1956) where she successfully incorporated the popular artistic movement, flamenco, into her designs. De Pombo’s side career as a flamenco performer gave her awareness of the popularity of the art form and provided her with intimate knowledge of ways to use common flamenco imagery in her work. This qualifying paper explores the connection between Ana de Pombo’s interest in flamenco and her evening wear designs for the House of Paquin.