Alfredo Bouret (August 20, 1926 – March 11, 2018) was a Mexican
illustrator known for his work at Vogue magazine.Partner Lex Aitken
Queer Places:
Mexicana, 89 Lower Sloane St, London SW1W 8DA, UK
Alfredo Bouret (August 20, 1926 – March 11, 2018) was a Mexican
illustrator known for his work at Vogue magazine.
Born with the name of Alfredo González Aceves in 1926 in the mayor's office of Coyoacán, Mexico City, he demonstrated artistic skills from a very early age. He decided to study at the Escuela Libre de Arte y Publicidad in the 1940s; while studying he sends a series of drawings to the Mexican fashion magazine "La Familia" where he was published for a couple of years; in 1947 he won a fashion illustration contest that the Chamber of Dress made with the IWS (International Watercolor Society) whose prize was a stay in Paris of 6 months to learn the trade with fashion houses.
Upon arriving in Paris he made a brief internship of six months with the designer Pierre Balmain, who, at the end of the half-year period, suggested that he not return to Mexico and dedicate himself to fashion illustration. When showing his collection to the press Balmain presented him to Michel de Brunhoff, then editor of Vogue Paris, who hired him the next day. He worked for five years in the publication, a period in which he had contact with the main designers of the time such as Hubert de Givenchy, Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, among others, the most outstanding being Cristóbal Balenciaga, because he did not let his collections be photographed or drawn until long after it was presented on the catwalk, resulting in him not giving any illustrator access to his workshops; however, he allowed Alfredo to come in and illustrate his collections. At that time he began to sign only as "Bouret", which was the name of some ancestor of his who emigrated from France to Mexico during the Mexican Empire. In the 1950s he moved to London where he would work for the English edition of Vogue and make drawings for Walter J. Thompson's advertising agency. Finally, in 1962, he would resign from the magazine when he saw that photography swept illustration in the print media. At the beginning of the 1960s Bouret returned to Mexico with job offers and the idea of establishing a business in the country, but when nothing materialized he dedicated himself to painting typical national costumes and took the drawings to Europe to exhibit them in "Le Bazaar", the boutique of Jean Dessès, who would commission Valentino, then his assistant, to make a collection based on Bouret's drawings.
In 1962, while working for the magazine, the Irish designer John Cavanagh asked him to open a business together, which would be the "Mexicana" store on Sloane Street in London that sold Mexican products such as blouses and handicrafts being quite successful, because the theme of Mexican nationalism would later be reinforced with the 1968 Olympics that took place in Mexico City. There, Bouret dabbled in fashion design, selling dresses inspired by his country's garments made by Mexican designer Tachi Castillo. Among his clients were Princess Anne of the United Kingdom, who posed with one of his dresses for an official portrait made by Antony Armstrong-Jones, and Princess Diana, who, although she never went to the boutique personally, took a pair of dresses for her honeymoon. In 1969 he opened a branch of Mexicana in Sydney, Australia under the name Mexican Bazaar, which closed shortly after in 1972. The London branch would close a decade later in 1982. In 1985 he settled in Australia together with his partner, interior designer Lex Robert Aitken, becoming an Australian citizen in 1990. In 2007, after his retrospective at the RMIT Gallery, Aitken donated Bouret's collection to RMIT's design archives.
Following Aitken's death in 2013, Bouret moved to Vancouver to spend more time with his family. He passed away peacefully at his home on Saturday, March 10, 2018.
My published books:
