Christian Lacroix is a noted late twentieth century
haute couture fashion designer.
Born in the year 1951 in Arles (southern France), he is one of the few original enfants terrible of modern fashion.
Lacroix (pron: la kwah) got his start at the House of Hermès, and showed his first couture collection for the House of Patou. This showing had Lacroix bursting onto the Paris fashion scene with his bold and punky use of vibrant colour, sharp and angular shapes, and dangerous use of seemingly random layering. His preferred materials in this early stage were taffeta, silk, brocade, and metal.
He was immediately hailed as a fashion genius, and was perfectly in step with the exploding punk scene happening over the English Channel. In the year 1987 he obtained funding from the corporate luxury powerhouse LVMH to establish his eponymous House.
Lacroix has been honoured with a retrospective exhibition at the prestigious Marseilles Museum of Fashion, and is also noted for his design of stage costuming, particularly for Carmen (Bizet), staged in Nîmes in 1989, and for Phèdre (Racine), at the Comédie Française in Paris.
Christian Lacroix, for all of his challenging and wildly imaginative work, is one of the most memorable designers of his time. After viewing even a small number of his creations, it is difficult to forget his singular style.
research sources include lvmh.fr, christian-lacroix.fr, and the French ministère des Affaires étrangères