Designer Christian Lacroix

He is called "the king of patterns", "the master of illusions", "the master with the magic brush." He is called a theater-goer and surrealist. His style is characterized as "neo-baroque", and since the 1990s - "historicism". Christian Lacroix himself prefers bright colors: red, orange, yellow, their unexpected combinations and historical plots, fluffy skirts. After all, it was he who introduced short puffy mini-krini skirts into fashion.

“Once, sitting over a cup of tea with my student friends, I turned around and saw her - pale, with amazing red hair and a funny thin voice” - this is how he described his first meeting with his future wife and colleague Françoise Rosentil. Their wedding will take place in 1974. And it was Françoise who would become his guide to the world of Parisian fashion, because she was very ambitious and she had good connections, and in Christian Françoise immediately discerned talent.

Christian Marie Marc Lacroix was born on May 16, 1951 in the south of France in the city of Arles. His parents worked as engineers. Christian entered the Paul Valery University in Montpellier, where he studied art history. His thesis was called "Historical Costume in Painting of the 18th Century" and it is for the sake of collecting materials for his thesis that Christian will go to Paris. Where he stayed. In Paris, starting in 1972, he will study at the Sorbonne and the École Louvre, studying museums.

Christian will begin his career in the world of fashion in 1978, having got a job in House of fashion "Hermes"... There he will be engaged in the creation of accessories and shoe design. He was Guy Pauline's assistant. Then Christian worked for a while as a fashion journalist. And in 1981 he began his work at the Jean Patou Fashion House, which by that time had lost its former fame. And the young fashion designer successfully managed to return the House of Jean Pat to its lost glory.

In 1987 head of the concern "LVMH" Bernard Arnault invites Christian Lacroix to open his own fashion house. The first collection of the new House was presented at the beginning of the summer of 1987 and was called “The Beautiful Arlesian”. The collection was dedicated to the Camargue region, southern France, and was distinguished by an abundance of bright colors and variegated patterns. For his second collection, Christian Lacroix will receive another Golden Thimble Prize, the first such award he was awarded in 1986.

In 1990, he launched his first perfume, C'est La Vie Christian Lacroix, and then launched a line of youth clothing, Bazar. And after some time, a line of denim clothing.

In 2004, Christian Lacroix will be engaged in the production of lingerie and clothing for men. In 2002, he took over as Creative Director at the Emilio Pucci Fashion House.

Christian Lacroix loves bold and bright color combinations, pyramidal and trapezoidal silhouettes, layering and always remains true to his interest in historical subjects. No wonder Christian Lacroix is ​​also engaged in the creation of theatrical, historical, costumes. He did not bypass the "Russian motives" either. So in 2008, Christian Lacroix released a collection that combined "Russian motives", namely gilded embroidery and velvet jackets, with the style of French courtesans - lace frill, lantern sleeves.

In 2009, Christian Lacroix was forced to leave his own fashion house. However, two years later, he returns to the world of fashion and presents his new collection of menswear. Also in 2011, Christian Lacroix started developing a fall-winter 2011-2012 collection for the Spanish brand Desigual.

Today we can say one thing, Christian Lacroix is ​​one of the most famous French couturiers, and his collections, his style cannot be confused with anyone else.