Christian Marie Marc Lacroix

Place: Arles

Born: 1951

Biography:

Christian Marie Marc Lacroix is a French fashion designer. He was born in Arles, Bouches-du-Rhône 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 18th-century 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. Lacroix's designs combine luxury and insouciance. He prefers artisanal trades, fringe, bead, and embroidery. He's characterized by a strong sense of colour, and patterns mix. Lacroix's fashion house was founded in 1987 and he began putting out ready-to-wear in 1988. He launched jewelry, handbags, shoes, glasses, scarves, and ties (along with ready-to-wear) in 1989. He opened boutiques within Paris, Arles, Aix-en-Provence, Toulouse, London, Geneva, and Japan in the same year. Lacroix's 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. 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. In 1999, he launched his first line of floral perfume, and in 2000 he finished a line of novelty accessories which included semi-precious jewelry.In 2001, Lacroix also launched a children's line and in 2002, he launched a perfume, Bazar, created by Bertrand Duchaufour, Jean-Claude Ellena and Emilie Copperman. In 2004, Lacroix launched a lingerie for women line, as well as a menswear line. He is known for his theatrical style which came from his work while in the theatre. This usually shows up with his use of colour in the collections he designs. Along with this, he is also known for his 'le pouf' dress (featuring the ball skirt) and his work with the fashion house of Christian Lacroix.