Christian Lacroix

Christian Lacroix

Christian Marie Marc Lacroix was not so interested in the period he was living in and was instead more attracted to the history of his native country and town, Arles in South of France. As a teenager, his fondness towards fashion increased between the 1960s and 1970s. These were the times that could be defined as “wild” for young and adolescent boys. Once Lacroix became a fashion designer, he blended the different periods of time together into a commendable creation. He prefers to be called a ‘designer’ rather than an ‘artist’ because neither does he sculpts nor paints. According to him, clothes cannot be categorized under art.

At a young age, the designer started sketching fashion and costumes inspired by history. In 1969, Lacroix attained his graduation from high school and then relocated to Montpellier in order to join University of Montpellier and learn Art History. In 1971, he signed up for Sorbonne University. While investing his effort in his dissertation, Lacroix pursued a course in museum studies from the École du Louvre. At that time his aspired to become a curator at a museum. During this time, he met Françoise Rosensthiel and the two fancied each other – they got married in 1974.

According to Lacroix, the world of fashion is heading towards a dead end or perhaps a phase where there is nothing much to look up to or feel that whatever that is being shown is the reality. There is a whole bunch of those people who spend time creating a fake world of fashion, such as editors and press photographers. There are also those who are well-connected to the streets and consumers but have a flat view about fashion, such as Uniqlo, H&M or Zara. On top of all this, the magazines usually and only promote rich labels that have the money to advertise. Hence, fashion is veiled into being highly indifferent from the real fashion industry.

Christian Lacroix is both a pessimistic and an optimistic person who is rooted in the veracity of his duties, world and of course future. At the same time, he has learned about antique lifestyle, ancestors, gods and believing in destiny.

In 1987, he opened his haute couture maison and a year later Lacroix began designing and selling prêt-a-porter inspired by different cultures. On his designs, critics felt and stated that Lacroix doesn’t understand the type of apparel working women need. In 1989, he launched handbags, glasses, shoes, jewelry, ties and scarves. In the same year he opened several stores in Arles, Paris, Toulouse, Aix en Provence, Geneva, Japan and London.

Lacroix was soon seen discussed in headlines of the print and electronic media with his fantasy and opulent creations. He referenced largely from the history of fashion, from different parts around the world and from folklore.

Unfortunately since 1987 until its purchase by Falic Fashion Group’s LVMH in 2005, the Lacrois house faced increasing losses of more than 200 million euros. In 2008, Lacroix’s haute couture collection ran the business down by ten million Euros.

Apart from his fashion endeavors, the designer designed the interiors of several leading hotels including the Hotel Bellechasse, Hotel Le Petit Moulin, Le Notre Dame hotel and also some small luxury hotel around the world.

Christian Lacroix’s fashion is not something that anybody can wear anywhere but his creations are worth having a look at since they are bold, innovative and adventurous.

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