Dmitri Dmitriievich Bouchene, was born April 26th, 1893 in St. Tropez, France. He came from an ancient French family that had been long settled in Russia. His mother died when he was 2 years old, and his father remarried, so he was brought up by his aunt.
He received an art education in St. Petersburg, taking evening courses at the Society for Promotion of Artists. Nikolai Roerich noted the young man's talent and presented him to his fellow members in the Mir iskusstva (World of Art) group.
In 1912, he was sent to Paris, where he studied at the Ranson Academy and met Maurice Denis and Henri Matisse. He returned to St. Petersburg and after the revolution he got a position at the State Hermitage Museum. In 1925, he was sent on official leave to Paris, but never returned to Russia.
Bouchene started offering his designs to the biggest fashion houses like Nina Ricci, Jean Patou, Jeanne Lanvin and Lucient Lelong. Lanvin was first, but they all bought his designs.
In 1931, Bouchene created costumes for ballerina Alisa Alanova. In 1934, he designed costumes for Ida Rubinstein. He worked for opera and ballet productions and continued his easel painting till his dying day.
He died in 1993, just 2 months short of his 100th birthday.
His style was poetic and painterly and conveyed the image and spirit of the design. He illustrated the creations of the Paris designers all through the 20's. His sketches were considered works of art. In 1983, six sketches which he created for Lucien Lelong were sold at the Drouot Auction in Paris.