Diana Slip Lingerie

The Diana Slip Lingerie company, active from the 1920s to 1940s, emerged as a significant entity under the ownership of Léon (Victor) Vidal, with its establishment rooted in France around 1930. The company opened a luxurious boutique by the upmarket Madeleine district in Paris, between rue Royale and the Place Vendome.
Les Editions Gauloise (later, Les Libraires Nouvelles) was a company which comprised a diverse assortment of boutiques, bookshops and manufacturers, each devoted to fulfilling fetishists’ every desire. Diana Slip formed part of this network.

Brassaï at work in Hotel de Passe Rue Quincampiox

Photographer Brassaï at work for Diana Slip Lingerie, 1933

This enterprise extended beyond conventional lingerie production to encompass a diverse range of products and services, including fetish wear, erotic books, and condoms. It also operated the Librarie de la Lune, likely a venue for pornographic literature, and produced illustrated catalogs and magazines such as Lingerie Libertines and the Parisian Magazine, reflecting its deep engagement with erotic culture. Photographers such as Jacques Biederer, Jean Moral, Roger Schall, Brassaï, André Kertesz and Manassé Studio contributed extensively to its photographic output, capturing the essence of its offerings. Alongside these efforts, unknown artists provided sketches that enriched its visual legacy.

This post examines the company’s historical scope through a collection of photos and artworks drawn from archival research. It includes vintage advertisements with potential connections to Yva Richard, as well as recently discovered catalog materials, offering insight into its evolution and influence within erotic innovation.

Artworks that presumably were created to sell the lingerie through catalogues._{Art Vintagique}

Chairs et Dentelles (1933/1938)

A portfolio with 20 artworks showing females in lingerie, illustrated by Eugene Klementieff/Evgenii Klementiev (1901 – 1985) a Russian painter and illustrator who grew up in St Petersburg and moved to Paris early in 1930. _{Vintage Bdsm Art}

La Belle Polissonne ou le Délicieux Écart (1934)

La Belle Polissonne, ou Le Délicieux Écart by G. Maindouce, published by Les Éditions du Couvre-Feu at 8 Rue de Tracy, Paris (2e), is a French erotic novel from around 1934, though the exact publication date is not specified (n.d.). The book spans 121 pages and is notable for its inclusion of a color cover photograph, a frontispiece, and 16 full-page monochrome photographs (by various uncredited photographers) on glossy paper, which likely contribute to its erotic content through explicit illustrations._{Paris Olympia Press}

Known models

Nativa Richard in La Belle Polissonne, 1934

Models who posed for Diana Slip remain anonymous. I am pretty sure the first photo (that appeared in La Belle Polissonne) is Nativa Richard, and given the scenery photographed by her husband L. Richard.
Hanne Dolores is confirmed as model who posed for Diana Slip, but the photographer remains unknown.

Lingeries libertines (1939)

An album containing 29 beautiful plates of drawings of libertine lingerie, published by the Diana Slip brand in the 1930s. At first I found this publication, when digging some more I found a large collection made available by Paris Olympia Press. According to the webmaster that publication (Libertine Lingerie) was published in 1939. Be sure to view more via Paris Olympia Press.