He returned to the family business in 1918 and by 1921, the business employed 17 people and was renamed 'Lucien Lelong'. Lelong designed most of his own perfume bottles, taking inspiration from fabrics,
garlands,
feathers and
modern architecture. His first ready-to-wear collection was called ''Robes d'Edition'' and was released in 1934. In 1938, he oversaw the renegotiation of
collective agreements with the Chambre Syndicale's unions, primarily the socialist
GCT and Christian labour unions. Lelong closed the Chambre Syndicale's school and placed Chambre secretary Daniel Gorin in charge of the organisation. effectively moving occupied France to a state-controlled economy. arguing that any attempt at relocation would kill the industry due to its fragile
supply chains; his fashion house was one of those allowed to stay open during the occupation and largely catered to the wives and daughters of Nazi officers who were some of the only people allowed to buy haute couture garments. Lelong was
acquitted of being a collaborator, with a judge overseeing his case ruling that his cooperation was minimal and had been done to save French workers (12,000 of whom worked in the couture industry),
Raoul Dautry, the
Minister of Reconstruction and Urban Development, asked Robert Ricci (the son of
Nina Ricci) to come up with a fundraising idea to help with war efforts. The dolls were high
wire figures with plaster faces by , a
Catalan sculptor. "Nevertheless," Dior continued, "in the course of his career as couturier his collections retained a style which was really his own and greatly resembled him." Other designers who worked for Lelong included
Nadine Robinson and
Hubert de Givenchy. Lelong used the adjective 'kinetic' to describe the silhouette that he developed from 1925 onwards, which succeeded the
garçonne style of the early 1920s. According to Lelong the silhouette was meant to "[give] the wearer a pleasing appearance while in motion".
Clientele Among Lelong's clients were Marie Duhamel,
Nora Barnacle (wife of James Joyce),
Jeanne Ternisien (wife of the banker Georges Nelze), the
Duchess de la Rochefoucauld,
Greta Garbo,
Gloria Swanson,
Colette, and
Rose Kennedy. In 1935, Lelong designed the
wedding dress of
Josée Laval for her wedding to
René de Chambrun. ==Retirement and death==