Rose Bertinbegan as a milliner and then became dress couturier toMarie Antoinette. She was given the pejorative title of Marie Antoinette’s "Minister of Fashion." Her Wikipedia article ishere. The Web siteRecollectionsarticle about her role in historystates, "She was the first celebrated French fashion designer. She brought fashion and haute couture to the forefront of popular culture.” She is as important to fashion history as Charles Frederick Worth.
The Recollections article states, "Bertin is in part responsible for the pouf hairstyles that became the trademark during Louis XVI’s reign. She worked with the Queen’s hairdresser to create styles that, with the help of pads and pomade, could be as tall as three feet." She was as extravagant with her dresses, "Bertin designed gowns that presented the female figure as an imposing presence. Women took up three times as much space as men when wearing one of her designs, which ensured a reasonable amount of ‘personal space.’"
Her hairdresser collaborationist was Léonard Autié, called Léonard. According to his Wikipedia article: “...In 1769 he moved to Paris, where he began styling the hair of Julie Niébert, an actress at the Théâtre de Nicolet. His unusual hairstyles immediately attracted attention, and he was soon styling the hair of women of the nobility, including Madame du Barry, Louis XV's mistress and the Marquise de Langeac, a lady-in-waiting to the Dauphine Marie-Antoinette. By 1772 he had become the hairstylist of the Dauphine herself.