Why it belongs in ORBIS
Paris silk-jersey house founded 1958 by Daniel Tribouillard, who patented a fully-fashioned print process and introduced signature printed silk-jersey dresses in 1968 under the orchid emblem. Flagship boutique at 48 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore, Paris.
Maison Leonard traces to 1954, when Daniel Tribouillard joined the Paris textile firm of Jacques Leonard; in 1958 the company expanded into garment-making and Tribouillard became its designer, founding Leonard Fashion. That same year he began developing a technique for printing fully-fashioned knitwear, which he patented in 1959. The house's defining move came in 1968, when Tribouillard presented his first collection of printed silk-jersey dresses, establishing silk jersey as the maison's signature fabric, and adopted the orchid as its emblem. Through the early 1970s Leonard diversified into perfumes, ties, and silk scarves. Leonard's Paris boutique operates at 48 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore, 75008.