André Courrèges
Born	Pau, France
Nationality	French
Labels	Courreges

André Courrèges (born March 9 1923 in Pau) is a French fashion designer, known for his ultra-modern designs. At the age of 25, after studying to be a civil engineer, he went to Paris to work at Geanne Lafaurie fashion design house. A few months later he went over to Balenciaga, the renowned Spanish designer.

Both Courrèges and Mary Quant lay claim to the invention of the miniskirt.

Courrèges, "the lord of the miniskirt," gave women freedom of body and comfortable simplicity. He built his dresses rather than designed them. The shapes of his clothes are geometric: squares, trapezoids, triangles. In 1965, he launched a shocking campaign and revolutionalised the fashion world.

[edit] Early career

In his first appearance on the French couture scene, Courrèges introduced a revolutionary concept of styling: space-age clothes. This included boots, goggles, and dresses three inches above the knee. The main features of his boxy, uncluttered look spread quickly throughout the fashion world, especially the miniskirt, which he introduced to France,

[edit] Later creations

Among Courrèges' later creations were sweater pants, parkas, tennis dresses, beach clothes and mechanic-style coveralls. In contrast he also came out with a glow-in-the-dark jersey dress and an array of sexy swimsuits, held together only by thin strings on the sides. He favored bright acid colors and geometrical designs. He was the most copied and plagiarised dress-designer of his era. Shortly after he showed his space-age collection in 1964, the market was flooded with plastic skirts and jackets, angular seaming, crash helmets, white boots, and goggles, for a boxy silhouette.

Today, Courrèges holds an almost mythical status in fashion, especially in France, as well as being remembered as a truly great designer.

[edit] External links

• Courreges.com
• "Interactive timeline of couture houses and couturier biographies". Victoria and Albert Museum. http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1486_couture/explore.php. 

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