Lacroix fashion house declares insolvency *Update* Inks Deal with Ajman Sheikh

[eugenius]

Why even bother w/ the menswear? I strongly remember the menswear the first time around, and it went absolutely nowhere fast.

 

[Boomer]

^ That sounds like a strange plan to me....

 

[LolaSvelt]

Couture week is just not the same without Lacroix. If only they could find a way to bring him back.

 

[Boomer]

^ I imagine about $25Mil would probably do the trick....

 

[LolaSvelt]

Yeah.

 

[VogueParisLover]

I really don't care unless it's Christian Lacroix back at the helm. It is his house.

 

[Crying Diamonds]

As always, I'm intrigued to see what new blood will do.
I really think, and hope, using this prestigious name, that Walckhoff may be able to turn the fortunes of Lacroix around.

 

[Rigida]

Lacroix is not the same without Lacroix

 

[Deleted member 1957]

Agreed, Lacroix is just Lacroix without him it doesnt make sense

 

[mikeijames]

Why even bother w/ the menswear? I strongly remember the menswear the first time around, and it went absolutely nowhere fast.

well, from i'd say from a marketing perspective, why not? men -- even the male fashion customer -- doesn't exhibit the same type of loyalty to "designers" or labels or brands. they tend to wear what looks good no matter what. so if they make great clothes and place them in the right stores, they'll sell. the average mens customer wouldn't even know that lacroix had left.

 

[mikeijames]

i love that the new designer has embraced the change that needs to happen to keep this house relevant and alive.

Christian Lacroix for Target? Sacha Walckhoff Says, Don't Rule It Out!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zandile-blay/christian-lacroix-for-tar_b_651841.html?view=print

Zandile Blay, Market Editor for Paper Magazine
Posted: July 19, 2010 05:51 PM

For as long as one can remember - Lacroix has been the stuff of dreams. The rich fabrics, lush colors and grand silhouettes all seemed ripped from a requiem.

Then the nightmare started.

Beautiful, well crafted, couture will always have a home in the heart of a fashion editor - but not necessarily in the closet of a customer. Clothing so exquisite - and expensive - they could only be enjoyed by a privileged few proved to be a business model that pushed the couture house to the brink more than once.

But there was some steel in all that silk and the house of Lacroix forced it's way back to solvency with the help of investors. Along the way, the lablel's namesake and driving force Mr. Christian Lacroix himself exited, and Sascha Walckhoff - who has been with the house for 18 years - was named Creative Director.

Enter this columnist.

I was invited by on what I assumed would be a routine 15 minute press appointment to meet Walckhoff and review his first debut for the label, the Spring 2011 Menswear collection.

Fifteen minutes morphed into an hour long tete-a-tete. After drawing with the imagination of a poet, the London-loving, Paris-bound Dandy who inspired the Spring collection we had a frank talk about the past, present and future of Lacroix, which could include a collaboration with Target or H&M if Walckhoff has his way.

Herewith our Q&A.

How would you describe the house today?
It's a small team of people, who work closely together at every step. Lacroix is known for mixing a patchwork of fabrics, but behind the scenes it's also a patchwork of different people. It's a house of tolerance.

How would you describe the house's appeal?
You go to any country and they know the name, they know the brand, they know its bright and colorful and bold. Trying to express those same feelings and make it something for everyone was very difficult until now because costs of creating each garment made it accessible only for a few people.

The decision to halt the women's collection and sell men's exclusively...why?
We are beginning with mens because people don't expect us do to mens. We will follow up with accessories for women, shades and opticals and even a line of stationary. These extentions make sense because it widens the audience of people who can experience Lacroix.

Any concern that all these extentions will dilute the line?
No. Not at all. I'm really focused on what I'm doing and hope it will make sense.

Between the possible shuttering of the line and the beginning of your tenure as Creative Director, it seems like a rocky few months. Did it ever make you dislike the job?
It's my life. Its never ending. You don't begin at 9 and end at 6. You are always dreaming. You wake up at night and jot down inspirations. I've never been tired of this job and I never will be. It's more than just creating clothes. When you love fashion it doesn't matter what obstacles come with it. It's a real pleasure and an honor to do this.

Are there times when it all feels frivolous?
I came across in a book somewhere that three psychological reasons why humans wear clothing. These reasons - in no particular order are: hide nudity, to look good in order to seduce and protection from the elements. Of all three the second reason - vanity and seduction - is the leading reason for clothing. Knowing this gives so much meaning to my work. This whole process is all about seduction. Seducing the customer, who in turn seduces their target.

Are you proud of what you've accomplished with this debut collection?
I'm feel more relieved than anything. What I want is for the brand to go on. Going through our recent difficulties was really sad. For 18 years Lacroix has been my life. I want this house to continue and to prove that we have not been wrong and this brand can make it.

Would you consider a collaboration with mass retailers like Target o H&M?
Yes why not. Because its part of what I've been wanting : to get people to touch Lacroix at last. Brands like Target and H&M would be ideal for that. Of course, I won't do a couture dress for a mass retailer , but to do a small collection for one would be lovely. I'm open to it. Lacroix is luxury, but the brand's DNA, as the Spring 2011 collection shows, is about mixing the luxurious and the rough. This creates a large territory to play and craft something everyone could love.

Follow Zandile Blay on Twitter: www.twitter.com/zandile

 

[Squizree]

i love that the new designer has embraced the change that needs to happen to keep this house relevant and alive.

I don't buy his whole "For 18 years Lacroix has been my life" cliche. Reviving Lacroix is a HUGE opportunity for him to make some big bucks, why else would he snatch the position of Creative Director so quick.
And collaborating with Target and H&M is a pretty pathetic attempt at trying to stay "relevant". Everyone's done it. Lacroix needs something groundbreaking to get through this. I'm looking forward to the stationery line though! I think it will be cool.

 

[mikeijames]

I don't buy his whole "For 18 years Lacroix has been my life" cliche. Reviving Lacroix is a HUGE opportunity for him to make some big bucks, why else would he snatch the position of Creative Director so quick.
And collaborating with Target and H&M is a pretty pathetic attempt at trying to stay "relevant". Everyone's done it. Lacroix needs something groundbreaking to get through this. I'm looking forward to the stationery line though! I think it will be cool.

lacroix himself could have stayed on. remember, but for the rejection of an uzbek heiress, his company would have stayed in his creative control. let's not disparage those who step up in his absence.

and while i've never once thought a target collaboration a wise step, the h+m collaborations have reaped fashion gold.

 

[eternitygoddess]

but for the rejection of an uzbek heiress, his company would have stayed in his creative control.

She is quite a sketchy character, and I don't blame him for not wanting to accept money which came from less than legal means.

Lacroix couture is the thing of the past. I hope one day the house will be restored to its former glory.

 

[Flashbang]

Lacroix, A Stranger In A Strange Land
November 2, 2011 9:00 am

Christian Lacroix has famously stepped away from the catwalk, and to hear the master couturier tell it, he feels far away from the world of fashion—”a stranger in a strange land,” as he says. But that doesn’t mean he’s been sitting idle. Au contraire, the designer is busier than ever. This week, the fruits of his latest collaboration with Paris’ Opéra Garnier, a series of Swarovski-studded costumes for the nineteenth-century ballet La Source, hit the stage of the Opéra de Paris. (Swarovski donated two million crystals to the project, few if any of which, it seems, went to waste.) Above and below, Lacroix shares a few exclusive costume sketches. Style.com checked in with the designer to find out the impact trends have on what he is doing now (none), the freedom of the stage, and the various other projects he has up his sleeve.
—Tina Isaac

How do you feel about the ballet, and what were your inspirations for La Source?
I feel quite happy about La Source, and of course it’s such a privilege to work with the Opéra Garnier—this is our fifth collaboration. They have wonderful workrooms, and incredibly skilled artisans who are always in a good mood. They’ve become friends. That said, it was a quite a challenge to make a forgotten piece into something new that was faithful to classicism and yet modern, which would fit with the unique talents of the Opéra de Paris dance corps and still speak to today’s audience. I was inspired by Eric Ruff’s poetic set, and of course Jean-Guillaume Bart’s strong yet subtle choreography. Fortunately, the ballet seems to be a hit. And I find that the music sticks in my mind.

What are the similarities and—more importantly—the differences in designing for the ballet and Couture?
A costume is made to be seen from afar; it has to “speak,” to convey a character from the moment the performer steps onto the stage. An haute couture piece is particularly beautiful when it’s right under your nose.

The distance between the stage and the audience is also magnified by light and the illusion of spectacle. You can improvise by using humble materials, which you can then patina, trim, and paint, forcing your point so that from a distance they appear sumptuous. In couture, you cannot use anything but the highest quality fabrics, embroideries, and other elements.

But the process is the same—for me in any case. I considered my couture clients heroines of their own lives, and I tried to create second skins for them that were in harmony with their bodies, their character, their lifestyle—exactly as for an actor, a prima ballerina, or an opera star. My fashions were theatrical, operatic, spectacular, and very akin to stage life. Trends of the moment are of scant importance to stage creations.

Much of the original 1866 ballet was lost in a fire: What sources did you have to draw on, and how much sprang from your imagination?
The Opéra’s library still has some set designs and costume sketches from that time, but I preferred not to look at them until the end, taking cues instead from Bart and the dramatist Clément Hervieu-Léger, whose color notions were very precise, plus the music and set design. I had only to illustrate their ideas: My aim was to create timeless costumes that were situated somewhere in between “period” and the imagination. I wanted touches of the Ballets Russes and modernized nineteenth century, with a dash of ethnic detail.

What other projects do you have coming up?
I am going to keep designing costumes in 2012, for productions of Don Pasquale, for Adrienne Lecouvreur at the Frankfurt Opera, for Peer Gynt at the Comédie Française, for Salomé at the Opéra de Saint-Gall, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme in Paris, a staging of Madame Butterfly in Hamburg, then Radamisto at the Viennese Opera in January 2013. I am also working on a hotel in Bangkok with Sofitel, and continuing my collaboration with the Monnaie de Paris, notably with a Kings of France-themed coin collection. And I am also finishing lines 3 and 4 of the Tramway in Montpellier, which will be operational next April.

What’s your view on fashion now, given the dramatic events of the past year or so?
Answering that would take hour upon hour and page after page. I do feel far away from that planet now, as if I were a stranger in a strange land!

Illustrations: Christian Lacroix

style.com

 

[Squizree]

Those artworks look phenomenal!!

 

[Thefrenchy]

^Agree.

My boyfriend bought a Christian Lacroix box with some cards in it. It has drawings of Lacroix on the box and the cards and they're so beautiful.

 

[Benn98]

And in today's edition of fashion collabs nobody asked for.....

Lacroix partners with activewear brand, Ultracor. From Dries to an activewear brand.

WWD/Lyst

 

[Pricciao]

Lacroix has been long time not involved with his named brand since bankruptcy. It's not like he can do something about it. On the company's side, maintaining the legacy and archives is more important than what they put out right now. I'm not bitter over this.

 

[Lola701]

And in today's edition of fashion collabs nobody asked for.....

Lacroix partners with activewear brand, Ultracor. From Dries to an activewear brand.

WWD/Lyst

View attachment 1134079

Two different entities...
I don’t think Christian Lacroix is credited as Christian Lacroix when he does his collaborations with Schiaparelli or Dries. He is doing just fine as a costume designer...
However, the new owners of the company capitalize of his recent buzz with Dries...