Christian Lacroix

Christian Marie Marc Lacroix born 16 May 1951 is a French fashion designer The name may also refer to the company he founded Lacroixs designs combine luxury and insouciance He prefers artisanal trades fringe bead and embroidery Hes characterized by a strong sense of colour and patterns mix Lacroix was born in Arles BouchesduRhône in southern France At a young age he began sketching historical costumes and fashions Lacroix graduated from secondary school in 1969 and moved to Montpellier to study Art History at the University of Montpellier In 1971 he enrolled at the Sorbonne in Paris While working on a dissertation on dress in French 18thcentury painting Lacroix also pursued a program in museum studies at the École du Louvre His aspiration during this time was to become a museum curator It was during this time he met his future wife Françoise Rosenthiel whom he married in 1974 In 1987 he opened his own haute couture house He began putting out readytowear in 1988 drawing inspiration from diverse cultures Critics commented that he did not seem to understand the type of clothing the working woman needed In 1989 Lacroix launched jewelry handbags shoes glasses scarves and ties along with readytowear In this same year he opened boutiques within Paris Arles AixenProvence Toulouse London Geneva and Japan With his background in historical costume and clothing Lacroix soon made headlines with his opulent fantasy creations including the short puffball skirt le pouf rose prints and low décolleté necklines He referenced widely from other stylesfrom fashion history the corset and the crinoline from folklore and from many parts of the worldand he mixed his references in a topsyturvy manner He favored the hot colors of the Mediterranean region a hodgepodge of patterns and experimental fabrics sometimes handwoven in local workshops From 1987 to its purchase from LVMH by Falic Fashion Group in 2005 the fashion house had cumulative losses of more than 44 million In 2009 the fashion house owned by dutyfree retailer Falic Fashion Group put the business into administration and laid off all but 12 workers Lacroixs AW 2009 Haute Couture was privately financed by Lacroix and each model was paid 50 I didnt want to cry said Lacroix I want to continue maybe in a different way with a small atelier What I really care about is the women who do this work Lacroix said about his last Haute Couture collection Throughout its history it never turned a profit and reported a 10 million loss in 2008 His collections during 1994 were based on old culture and folklore as well as fables and the past In 1995 he launched a towel line which contained a fashion and lifestyle side which represent how the two intertwine two sides of the same coin In 1996 he launched a jeans line He included past traditions from all around the world continuing the line with even more on ethnic arts In 1997 the Art de la Table line was launched by him in partnership with Christofle A licensing agreement was also reached in this year with Pronuptian in which he could launch his Christian Lacroix Marriage line Source Article Christian Lacroix from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30