René Hubert

Biography

Swiss-born René Eugène Hubert studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule in St. Gallen and at the Beaux Arts in Paris and subsequently worked for the noted fashion designer Jean Patou. He did some costume design for theatrical revues in Berlin and France (including for the Folies Bergère at the Casino de Paris), where his work attracted the attention of star actress Gloria Swanson. Swanson managed to persuade Hubert to join her in Hollywood as personal designer for her entire personal and professional wardrobe and he ended up signed to a two-year contract at Paramount in 1924 (inevitably specialising in Gloria's pictures, beginning with Madame Sans-Gêne (1925)). After his contract expired, Hubert made the rounds of other studios: MGM (1927-1931); under the auspices of Charles Le Maire at 20th Century Fox (1931-1935); at Alexander Korda's London Films (1935-1938), where he designed the futuristic costumes for Things to Come (1936); then back at Fox (1943-1950). He excelled at period costume and was engaged on many A-grade historical dramas, including Fire Over England (1937), That Hamilton Woman (1941), Jane Eyre (1943), Dragonwyck (1946), Forever Amber (1947) and Anastasia (1956). Hubert died in June 1976 at the age of eighty, leaving behind a rich legacy of distinctive watercolour and pencil sketches of his designs.