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The Fabyan Villa Museum (left) and Nelle Fabyan’s Parisian Couture Gown designed by Georges Doeuillet (right) 📸 Credit: Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley
A rose-colored silk satin gown that once belonged to Nelle Fabyan — now freshly restored after years of conservation work — goes on public display this month at the Fabyan Villa Museum in Geneva, placing the local institution in rare company with the Louvre and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The gown was designed around 1910 by Georges Doeuillet, a Paris-based couturier who is credited by some fashion historians as the creator of the cocktail dress. Only six museums worldwide hold a Doeuillet garment.
Here's what to know:
Doeuillet’s backstory: He opened his fashion house at 18 Place Vendôme in 1899 and quickly became one of Paris's most sought-after designers. France named him an officer of the Legion of Honor in 1911.
The gown itself: Nelle Fabyan, who stood 4'10", likely purchased the gown around 1910 in Chicago, New York, or Paris. It features silk and metallic thread embroidery, handmade rosettes along the neckline, and a short train. The Conservation Center of Chicago completed a meticulous restoration in 2025.
How it ended up here: Before her death in 1939, Nelle gave or sold the gown to Ethyl-Marie Williams, the wife of one of the Fabyans' chauffeurs. The Williams family donated it to the museum in 1987, where it has been held ever since.
The exclusive first look: An event on April 18 gives attendees an early chance to see the gown before it goes on general display.
According to Al Watts, Community Engagement Director at Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley, the gown spent most of its time at the museum since 1987 folded in a box.
Around 2022, Preservation Partners began writing grants to fund a professional restoration. When enough funding came through, the gown went to the Conservation Center in Chicago, where conservators worked to restore it as accurately as possible.
“The Conservation Center did extensive research to try to as accurately as possible restore the gown,” Watts said. “Some pieces were too fragile to repair and were either replaced or removed from the gown. Parts of the gown are made of silk which is an extremely difficult material to repair because it more or less disintegrates over time.”
Interested in being one of the first to see it on display? Get details on the April 18 “Exclusive First Look” event.
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