On launching his society magazine La Mode (1829- 1955), the publisher Girardin criticized other fashion magazines for their ‘stiff, mechanical mannequins’. He wanted pictures that were more modern and animated. In illustrator Paul Gavarni, who had a reputation as the best-dressed man in Paris, he found just the right man to put a fresh spin on the fashion plate and to make the stiff ‘mannequins’ come to life.