Portrait: Christian Lacroix

Christian Lacroix was born on May16th 1951 in the southern French town of Arles. His family originated partly in the Cévennes, partly in Provence, combining classical rigor with baroque good humor.

His childhood was a lonely one, spent between the beaches of the Camarge and pine woods of the Alpilles hills, Gallo-Roman remains and the more recent ruins of the bombing in 1944, bull-fights and theatre or opera festivals, the traditions of Provence and those of the Gipsies and all the Mediterranean people gathered there, pictures in art galleries and books in the attic, old photos and stories. And all the time he was drawing, endlessly drawing, retracing the course of the past which perpetually fascinated him, seizing the costumes and the customs of the passing scene, creating his own fashions. His teenage years were divided between the "dolce vita" of the south and his passion for England and of Oscar Wilde and the Beatles, Barcelona and Venice. He received an arts degree at the University of Montpellier (Latin, Greek, art history, literature and cinema) and then went on 1973 to Paris, the Sorbonne and the Ecole du Louvre, to prepare a dissertation on 17th century costume with a desire to become a museum curator.

But then he began to meet people who were to change his life. Françoise, whom he later married, showed him around Paris and encouraged him in his design work. Marie Rucki, director of the Cours Berçot, let him show his fashion and theatre designs to Karl Lagerfeld, Pierre Bergé and Angelo Tarlazzi. In 1978, Jean-Jacques Picart got him a job with Hermès to learn the basics. He became an assistant to Guy Paulin who taught him how to update his affection for the past, using subtle refinements of color, a mixture of materials and a modern look.

By 1980 he was collaborating with the couturier to the Tokyo imperial court; in the following year he joined the house of Jean Patou, together with Jean-Jacques Picart, and the two of them took up the challenge of the haute couture, which at that time was generally thought to be in the doldrums. Season after season, they managed to bring back the colors and extravagance which haute couture should never have lost, and a lavishness which became the hallmark of the eighties. His work was recognized in 1986 when he first won the Golden Thimble, and then in January 1987 with the award for the most influential foreign designer, given by the CFDA in New York.

At that time Lacroix and Picard met Bernard Arnault and joined forces to found the house of Christian Lacroix in a mansion at 73, Faubourg Saint Honoré. Their first haute couture collection, dedicated to the South of France, took to the catwalk in July of that year. In the face of the minimalist uniformity, then in vogue, it offered an eccentric return to a diversity of roots. In January 1988, the second collection won a Golden Thimble. Two months later, the first line of ready to wear clothing was unveiled. Accessories were to follow in 1989 and new boutiques were opened in Paris, Arles, Aix, Toulouse, Geneva, London and Japan.

Since then, he has continued his work introducing everything from linens and towels to jeans and table art collection. In parallel with these continual variations on the mood of the age style, and the future, Christian Lacroix has never abandoned his work for theater. Among others, he has designed "Tarnished Angels" for Karol Armitage at the Paris Opera, "Gaîté Parisienne" for Mikhail Baryshnikov at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and many more. In 1996 he was honored by the "Molière" (French theatre awards) for best costumes for "Phèdre". His fashion focuses on happiness, with emblematic colors. He ranges freely over the past, the present, and the future, dressing women in an out-of -the ordinary style that sets them apart from the rest.

The Cristian Lacroix perfume a whole world of emotions

The Christian Lacroix perfume is a reflection of the couturier's world: the elusiveness of dreams, memories, and intuition. It is based on the wish to restore to every woman her individuality, allowing her the true luxury of being herself, enhanced by a fragrance that blends with the natural perfume of her skin.

For inspiration, Christian Lacroix delved into his childhood memories: "When I think of fragrance, I think of the aromas of my childhood, torrid pine forest in summer with intense sunlight floating in the air, and the simple, homely scents of Christmas in Provence."

He has created a perfume that starts out from the green freshness of a great Parisian florist and mingles with the warm, woody, amber notes of the sunlit climes of southern France.

Undoubtedly, This distinctive fragrance is a potent reduction of the couturier's emotions: an ode to the vibrations of the moment, to a life of which he has drunk deeply. It is a separate universe, hovering between past and future, a kaleidoscope of sounds, images, and aromas. It is also a perfume of distant encounters and diverse origins, as its creator likes to point out. For the flacon, Christian Lacroix has chosen to pay homage to the sea near his native Camargue region: a fragrant sea captured in a shapely seashell. It was designed by an artist from Biot using their famous bubble glass, tinted golden yellow for the eau de parfum.

The same artist designed the cap to resemble a marine whirlpool. The case sports a fabric covering red, of course: the rich vermilion so dear to the heart of the couturier, who as a child dreamed of " swallowing a whole tube of it." The outer packaging is colored red for the eau de parfum and baroque gold for the parfum.
Bringing the memories full circle, the engraving on the case shows the Theatre of Arles in bas-relief, which its wealth of details, hints at the couturier's exacting passion for the things he cherishes.