Fascinating article from Wall Street Journal on fashion maven Christian Lacroix.
Christian Lacroix sat on a beige sofa in his Parisian atelier nibbling a pink macaroon as a lone client tried on one of his black pleated dresses. The large ochre-colored room in which he created 22 years worth of high fashion was mostly empty. The seamstresses had left to go on holiday. They may not have jobs to return to in September. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have been influenced by the idea that my name could be spread across the entire world,” the designer said, running his hand through his closely cropped hair before aiming a taut smile at his client. “You need ego but mine is not blinding.” It has been a long fall from grace for Mr. Lacroix. In 1987 the former art student stormed Paris’s staid haute couture scene with his warm colors and Mediterranean flair. Now after more than two decades of losses the brand filed for bankruptcy protection in May. Two potential buyers are being lined up, but as things stand the 58-year old once hailed by critics as savior of haute couture can no longer design clothes under his own name. – From WSJ