Christian Lacroix

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Christian Lacroix is a high-end French fashion label founded by Christian Marie Marc Lacroix. In 1978 he joined the French firm Hermès, where he worked on color schemes and the execution of designs wthi Guy Paulin in 1980. From 1981 to 1987 Lacroix worked at the fashion house of Jean Patou, and in 1987 he opened his own couture and ready-to-wear business. Because Lacroix’s previous education had been in historical costuming, a lot of his designs are unapologetically dramatic and fantastical. He is known for aesthetics such as sumptuous fabrics, overlapping patterns and an array of creative patchwork and stitching. 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 collections (along with ready-to-wear) while also opening boutiques within Paris, Arles, London, Geneva and Japan in that same year. In 1994, Lacroix launched his Bazar line. His collections during the times of 1994 were based on old culture and folklore, as well as fables and the past. Two years later he launched a Jeans line. In 1997, the Art de la Table collection was launched in partnership with Christofle. That same year a licensing agreement was also reached with Pronuptian in which he could launch his Christian Lacroix Marriage collection. 1999 marked the launch of Lacroix’s first line of floral perfumes, and in 2000 he finished a line of novelty accessories which included semi-precious jewelry as well as a children’s collection. In 2002, he launched a perfume called Bazar which was created by Bertrand Duchaufour, Jean-Claude Ellena and Emilie Copperman. In October 2002 after the presentation of his Spring/Summer 2003 collection, Lacroix resigned from the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur by Bernard Arnault, Chairman of LVMH.In the winter of 2007 he partnered with Avon cosmetics to introduce a new exclusive fragrance to Avon called Christian Lacroix Rouge for women and Christian Lacroix Noir for men. Currently, his ready-to-wear collection, which now includes handbags, fragrance, and shoes, can be found in more than 1,000 international stores, including twenty of his own namesake as well as on the bodies of adventurous red-carpet walkers

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