Cutting the Bias: Madeleine Vionnet THE ELEGANCE OF THE 1930's BIAS CUT GOWN The bias cut of material, a mode introduced in the 1920s by the French couturiere Madeleine Vionnet, was widely adopted in the 1930s and Madeleine Vionnet is typically credited with inventing bias cutting. It's actually untrue. Cutting on the bias had been in use long before, typically for things like ruffles, and by the start of The bias cut and Madeleine Vionnet Europeana