Marie-Louise Carven

At her hundredth birthday party in 2009, she was made a commander of the Legion of Honor.

In 2001, she gifted her archives to the Musée Galliera.

In August 2000, Carven was named Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

Carven designed uniforms for the 1976 French Olympic team, Parisian traffic wardens, Eurostar staff, and over 20 airlines.

In 1950, she became one of the first couturiers to develop prêt-à-porter. Her preference for simple materials such as pink gingham and broderie anglaise eased her transition to ready-to-wear.

Carven was one of the first fashion houses to stage runway shows around the world. The designer's travel inspired her to use diverse materials such as madras, batik, and raffia in her collections. In the 1950s, Carven was one of the first Western designers to use African textiles.

Carven was also the costume designer for eleven films, including Manon (1949), Rendezvous in July (1949), Edward and Caroline (1951), Holiday for Henrietta (1952), and Le Guérisseur (1953). She also worked for the costume and wardrobe department for the film The Red Shoes (1948), and for the episode Gold (1952) of the television series Foreign Intrigue. She worked for the art department for the Perry Mason episode The Case of the Gallant Grafter (1960).

Carven was an inventive marketer. In 1946, she publicized the launch of her first perfume by parachuting hundreds of sample bottles across Paris. In 1950, Carven created a collection inspired by Gone with the Wind to coincide with the film's French release. She toured France with the collection, staging fashion shows at movie theaters.

In 1945, at the age of 34, Carven opened her fashion house on the Champs-Élysées. The name Carven combined Carmen, her given name, with the last name of her aunt Josy Boyriven, who introduced her to couture. The 5'1" Carven focused her line on petite women, "because [she] was too short to wear the creations of the top couturiers, who only ever showed their designs on towering girls."

In the 1940s, she employed the Romanian Jew Henry Bricianer in her shop in Paris despite antisemitic Vichy laws. When the police came for Bricanier, she hid him in the building where her shop was, and allowed him to continue his work. As well, she allowed four members of Bricanier's family to live with her own relatives; this enabled them and Henry to survive until the end of World War II.

Marie-Louise Carven (31 August 1909 – 8 June 2015), born Carmen de Tommaso, was a French fashion designer who founded the house of Carven in 1945. She was noted for her designs for petite women, her use of lightweight fabrics such as lace and pink gingham, and for being one of the first couturieres to launch a prêt-à-porter line. She was the first Paris designer to patent a push-up bra.

Marie-Louise Carven was born Carmen de Tommaso on 31 August 1909 in Châtellerault, France. However, she strongly disliked her given name, and when she founded her business, she assumed the name by which she is better known. Carven showed an interest in fashion design from a young age by making outfits for her pet cat.