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Cristian LacroixDesigner
Date of Birth: 16.05.1951
Country:  France |
Content:
Meeting Françoise
Once, while sitting with friends in a Parisian café, Christian Lacroix turned his head and saw her - pale, with amazing red hair and a charming, delicate voice. She was wearing an old fur cape thrown over a t-shirt with black beads and white shoes. It was November, and the girl was not just cute. She was enchanting! This is how Christian Lacroix begins his story about the most important meeting of his life. Source: "CARAVAN OF STORIES" magazine, November 1999.
A Student from Arles
Almost thirty years ago, Christian Lacroix, a native of the small town of Arles in France, came to Paris with one goal - to gather material for his diploma work, "Historical Costumes in the XVIII Century Paintings." He was a diligent student and had every reason to believe that his work would be the best in the history of the faculty. Christian could have been a professor at the University of Montpellier to this day, if he had not met Françoise in November, who became his wife, friend, partner, advisor, and chief assistant. Françoise rightfully shares in the success of the designer, who is called the "king of patterns" and the "master of illusions."
A Provincially Fashionable Couple
There's no hiding the fact that in the early 70s, in the fashion-savvy Parisian circles, Christian Lacroix was just a provincial student, while Françoise was his connection to the influential people in that world. "There's something about this guy..." the elders of the Parisian fashion world often noticed. And not without reason. In 1987, he was offered to open his own fashion house. Needless to say, Christian Lacroix agreed immediately. He experimented with fabrics and accessories, boldly mixing seemingly incompatible colors and patterns, teetering between kitsch and refined luxury. He offered lavish draperies, dresses with high waists, and silhouettes more fitting for a distant historical epoch than the age of technological progress.
Fashion Innovator
His ideas were in high demand. What Christian Lacroix embodied in his haute couture collections was instantly copied by ready-to-wear designers. However, Lacroix did not suffer from professional jealousy for long, as he soon started creating his own pret-a-porter collections. Today, Christian Lacroix considers himself the happiest of people. He still has his loyal Françoise by his side, and his passion for historical costumes has helped establish his own style in modern fashion, with numerous followers. Additionally, the couturier creates actual historical costumes, without any regard for trends and fashion, for theatrical performances. However, whether he considers it more important to create for the stage or for what is commonly called the theater of life, Monsieur Lacroix will probably never be able to say.
