Telling a feminine story is giving women their place as protagonist. There are many women who have taken second place in the history of men. This is a very common form of silencing and has everything to do with the story of today's #everysextacomelas.
Emilie Flöge is known as Gustav Klimt's muse. Often nicknamed “Frau Klimt”, she appears in a portrait made by him, wearing a blue dress that appears to imitate a fish scale. Emilie's sister, Helena, married Gustav's brother and that's how they met. There is a lot of speculation to this day whether they had a love affair or just a platonic friendship. In the letters, little is known. However, there are those who believe that the couple in the painter's most famous painting, “The Kiss”, are them.
Although this part of the story is well known, little has been reported over the years about the life of the woman who created her own Fashion Salon, what today would be called a concept store, and had enormous success as an independent entrepreneur at a time women faced many restrictions.
Emilie Flöge and her sisters managed one of the main fashion houses in Vienna, Schwestern Flöge, having in its best years around 80 assistants and seamstresses. With a very clear vision of the future, she helped spread the so-called “reform style”, a radical rejection of the corset and cinched waist, associated with the feminist movements of the time.
She was part of a movement that wanted to see Modern Art in all areas of life, in furniture, fashion, etc. In this sense, the mutual collaboration between Emilie and Gustav was quite intense. While he presented her dresses to the high society women he painted and to his patrons, she lent the models and their dresses for him to paint.
When the Third Reich was imminent, she closed her doors, as her most important clients were Jews, and began to work on the top floor of her house. Little is known about the later years of his life, as after Klimt's death in 1918, records of her life became scarce.
The truth is that she lived at a time when the protagonism of innovative women was often erased. Today, the fact that Emilie is best known for her relationship with Klimt neglects her exquisite creations and her independent entrepreneurial success. Therefore, it is important that we spread the stories among women!