French fashion designers

Ted_Lapidus

Edmond "Ted" Lapidus (23 June 1929 – 29 December 2008) was a French fashion designer. He was born in Paris, the son of a Russian-Jewish émigré tailor.Lapidus was considered the creator and pioneer of the unisex fashion look and is credited with introducing a military and safari look into haute couture. He is credited as the first designer to put Military style shoulder straps on both male and female clothing, and with making blue jeans part of the mainstream of fashion design. After an apprenticeship with Dior, Lapidus started his own fashion label in 1951, and gained prominence in the 1960s when French celebrities such as Brigitte Bardot, Françoise Hardy and Alain Delon started wearing his creations.
Lapidus proved influential outside France, too, and was the first designer to persuade Twiggy to wear a suit and tie rather than a mini-skirt. John Lennon was another admirer and in 1969 he asked Lapidus to design a white leather bag to house a set of fourteen erotic lithographs he had made. Known as "Bag One", the limited edition of 300 bags incorporated zips, handles and a lock, as well as Lennon's signature in black, and was hand-stitched in Italy and later autographed by The Beatles. Lapidus also designed the white suit that Lennon wore on the cover of The Beatles' Abbey Road album.
He was admitted to the Chambre syndicale de la haute couture parisienne in 1963. He designed the safari suit, a style of men's suit that was popular in Australia in the 1970s.
In the late 1970s the Lapidus label started to produce fashion accessories as the haute couture market declined. In 1989 Ted Lapidus's son Oliver Lapidus took over the Lapidus label. Lapidus sponsored the French Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives Formula One auto racing team in 1990 via the Ted Lapidus product name. In 1996 Lapidus designed both the home and away uniforms for the Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, which were used that year in the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Conmebol. In 2000 the Lapidus label ceased producing haute couture and is now primarily known for its fashion accessories of watches and fragrances.Lapidus died in Cannes, aged 79, from pulmonary complications brought on by leukaemia. He is buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. French President Nicolas Sarkozy paid tribute and said Lapidus had "democratised French elegance and classicism" and "made fashion accessible to men and women in the street." Sarkozy's statement called him "the poet of French couture".
Lapidus was married twice. He is survived by two sons, Olivier and Thomas, and a daughter, Eloise.

Grès

Grès was a French haute couture fashion house founded by Madame Grès in 1942. Parfums Grès is the associated perfume house, which still exists, and is now based in Switzerland.

Jeanne_Lanvin

Jeanne-Marie Lanvin (French: [ʒan maʁi lɑ̃vɛ̃]; 1 January 1867 – 6 July 1946) was a French haute couture fashion designer. She founded the Lanvin fashion house and the beauty and perfume company Lanvin Parfums.

Agnès_b

agnès b. (born Agnès Andrée Marguerite Troublé, 1941) is a French fashion designer known for her self-named brand, which includes fashion and film interests.

Louis_Féraud

Louis Féraud (13 February 1921 – 28 December 1999) was a French fashion designer and artist.
In 1950, Louis Féraud created his first "Maison de Couture" in Cannes and by 1955 had established a couture house in Paris on 88, Rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré and 57, rue Pierre-Charron.From the mid-1950s he was dressing the Parisian elite and designed the wardrobe of Brigitte Bardot for many of her movies. It wasn't however until 1958 that he presented his first haute couture collection in Paris.
In the early 1960s, Louis Féraud hired the designers Jean-Louis Scherrer, Margit Brandt, and Per Spook.
In 1970, he signed a contract with Fink (Germany) for a ladies' prêt-à-porter (ready-to-wear) collection. The year 1978 was an excellent one for Féraud: he won the "Golden Thimble Award" for his Spring/Summer 1978 Haute Couture Collection. He went on to claim this accolade again in 1984.
In 1981, he created the fragrance Fantasque and selected Avon cosmetics to distribute it in 1982. It was the company's first designer perfume and proved to be an instant success. Feraud followed up with two more fragrances created in collaboration with Avon: Vivage in 1984 and Cote d'Azur in 1988.
Meanwhile, his collection of honours continued to grow when Louis Féraud was elected Prince de l'Art de Vivre in 1991. In 1995, he was decorated Officier de la Légion d'honneur, by the French President. His daughter Kiki signed her first Haute Couture collection with Féraud in 1996. In September 1999, the Dutch group Secon acquired Féraud. He died that December, aged 78, after a long and severe battle with Alzheimer's.
The year 2000 saw Yvan Mispelaere join the group as artistic director and that July witnessed his first Haute Couture fashion show in "Musée des Monuments Français" in Paris. In 2002, the German Group ESCADA took 90% of the Féraud shares and Yvan Mispelaere left the company. Later that year, Féraud decided to concentrate its activities on ladies' ready-to-wear and licences, with Jean-Paul Knott selected as Creative Director for the luxury ready-to-wear market.
In 2003, Jean-Paul Knott left Féraud and that July the worldwide flagship store opened in Paris at 400 rue Saint-Honoré.

Serge_Lutens

Serge Lutens (born 14 March 1942 in Lille, France) is a French fashion designer, perfume creator, photographer, filmmaker and hair stylist, known principally for the fashion house and fragrance company which bears his name.

Inès_de_La_Fressange

Inès Marie Lætitia Églantine Isabelle de Seignard de La Fressange (French pronunciation: [inɛs maʁi letisja eɡlɑ̃tin izabɛl də sɛɲaʁ də la fʁɛsɑ̃ʒ]; born 11 August 1957), is a French supermodel, fashion designer and perfumer. She was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1998.

Christian_Lacroix

Christian Marie Marc Lacroix (French pronunciation: [kʁistjɑ̃ lakʁwa]; born 16 May 1951) is a French fashion designer. The name may also refer to the company he founded.
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.