The house of Carven was established by Marie-Louise Carven in 1945 in Paris, France. Born Carmen de Tommaso, the 5’1” designer fashioned her own Parisian identity, merging her Christian name with that of her aunt Josey Boiriven to create ‘Carven’, despite her distinguished marriage to Philippe Mallet — the younger brother of architect Robert Mallet Stevens. Her small stature inspired Madame Carven to create Haute Couture for petite bodies that, along with her deft, feminine hand with modest textiles like cotton gingham and broderie anglaise, would become a key element in one of the world’s first democratic ready to-wear wardrobes. She passed away in 2015, aged 105. 

In 2018, Carven was acquired by Icicle Group, a Chinese fashion company founded in 1997 in Shanghai. In 2020 the company was restructured as ICCF Group (Icicle Carven China France) operating a dualistic structure with shared functions, each committed to environmentally-friendly fashion with a "Made in Earth" approach.