André Courrèges (French: [andʁe kuʁɛʒ]; 9 March 1923 – 7 January 2016) was a French fashion designer. He was particularly known for his streamlined 1960s designs influenced by modernism and futurism, exploiting modern technology and new fabrics. Courrèges defined the go-go boot and along with Mary Quant, is one of the designers credited with inventing the miniskirt.
André Courrèges | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 7 January 2016 Neuilly-sur-Seine, France | (aged 92)
Occupation | Fashion designer |
Known for | Space-age clothes |
Label | Courrèges |
Spouse | Coqueline Courrèges (married 1966) |
Early life
editCourrèges was born in the city of Pau within the Bearnese region of the Pyrenees.[1] He wanted to pursue design in art school but his father, a butler, disapproved of his passion as he wanted him to be an engineer. Courrèges attended École Nationale des Ponts-et-Chaussées (École des ponts ParisTech).[2] During World War II, he became a pilot for the French Air Force.[3]
Career
editEarly beginnings
editIn 1945, at 25, after studying to be a civil engineer, Courrèges went to Paris to work at the fashion house Jeanne Lafaurie.[4] A few months later, he went to work for Cristóbal Balenciaga.[5] Courrèges worked for Balenciaga for 10 years mastering the cut and construction of garments.[6]
Courrèges
editIn 1961, Courrèges launched his own fashion house.[5] For the first couple of years of its existence, Courrèges was known for well-tailored suits and dresses with geometric seaming, clean lines,[7] and the standard knee-length hemlines of the time,[8] somewhat like Pierre Cardin of the period. His superbly cut trousers also attracted notice. His designs' style was shaped by Balenciaga, with garments that were well sculpted for women.[9][10]
His clientele were mature and conservative woman with high disposable income.[citation needed]
In 1963, he began to be known for extremely simple, geometric, modern designs, trousers for women, and a predilection for white,[11][12] including the "little white dress."[5] His slim fall 1963 trousers extended in a clean line onto the top of the foot.[13][14] Designers that season showed women's boots of all heights for the first time,[15][16] establishing a norm that would continue in autumn collections for at least the next fifteen years. Courrèges's clothes for 1963 were often paired with flat, slim-shafted boots to the lower calf.[17] The white versions attracted particular attention and became known as the Courrèges boot,[18] which evolved into the popular go-go boot.[19][20][21] Boots of this shape would be a staple of his collections for the next two years.
Courrèges would reach a peak of fame and influence with his 1964 and '65 collections, and it is these collections for which he is most remembered.[22] They introduced miniskirts to the haute couture, popularized pantsuits, and made flat shoes, white boots, metallic silver, and oversized glasses characteristic elements of 1960s fashion.[23] The collections conveyed the futuristic Space Age pulse of the time with crisply tailored clothes that simultaneously gave women a sense of freedom and suggested deeper societal changes.[24][25][26] With these collections, Courrèges intended to overcome the uncomfortable artifice that had dominated women's fashion during the 1950s.[27][28][29] He promoted a new body type that he felt was more in line with modern women's lives.[30] The collections were so transformative that some fashion writers compared them to Christian Dior's 1947 Corolle collection in importance.[31][32][33] Their influence would extend through about 1967,[34] touching everyone from top hairdresser Vidal Sassoon[35] to Coco Chanel, who showed her first pantsuits a few months after Courrèges introduced them to the couture in 1964.[36] Ultra-modern US designer Rudi Gernreich was moved to shorten his skirts to mini length after seeing Courrèges's 1964 work.[37] The designer perhaps most obviously influenced was fellow Balenciaga protegé Emanuel Ungaro.[38][39][40][41] During this period, Courrèges cited architects Le Corbusier and Eero Saarinen and artist Wassily Kandinsky as inspirations.[42]
His spring 1964 collection continued to feature his distinctive boots, popularized pantsuits,[43] and brought above-the-knee skirts to Paris haute couture for the first time. White dominated the collection.[44] He presented simple, slightly flaring chemise dresses that hit above the knee, well above the knee when paired with his signature calf-high boots.[45][46] The previous season, fall 1963, almost all designers had shown boots of various heights, but for spring of '64, Courrèges was the only designer to include boots. Their characteristic narrow cut and perfect proportions continued to win praise from the fashion press.[47] Low-heeled pumps were also shown. His trouser outfits attracted the most attention, launching the pantsuit trend that would change societal norms during the decade.[48][49][50] This season, his pants remained narrow but were set on the hip, creased in front, and slit over the instep to maintain a clean, unbroken line.[51] They were paired with simple, well-tailored, geometric-looking coats, jackets, and tunics featuring prominent buttons, low-set martingales, and the pocket flaps that would become one of Courrèges's signature design details.[52][53] Coats were seven-eighths length.[54] He showed his day clothes with large, tall, mostly brimless, Space Age-looking hats.[55][56][57] His trouser emphasis extended into evening, when he also incorporated a lot of bare skin with uncovered backs and openwork lace.[58][59] These clothes were presented in a traditional, dignified salon showing with classical music and floral perfume.[60]
His autumn 1964 collection evolved the fashion industry with modern, futuristic designs that were unheard of during the time.[61][62] Trousers dominated the showing, slit over the instep like those he had shown the previous season but with a slightly narrower cut and pronounced creases in front and back.[63][64] The collection included tailored coats, jackets, and tunics, which were paired with trousers or his version of the miniskirt. "He paired his shorter skirts with white or colored leather, calf-high boots that added a confident flair to the ensemble. This look became one of the most important fashion developments of the decade and was widely copied."[9] His familiar short, geometric shift dresses were marked with a characteristic small sleeve.[65] The coats were narrow. Jackets were longer and had deeper vents than previously. Some were marked with a hip seam.[66] The clothes held their shape via precise tailoring and fabrics of substantial body, many double-faced, with a great deal of gabardine.[67] He showed no regular shoes for fall '64, only boots.[68] The boots were the same height and shape as those he'd been showing since 1963 but with pleating or vertical stitching at the top of the shaft. As in his previous collections, the white kid ones were the most popular, but he also offered them in patent finishes, suede, lizard, and vinyl of various colors and even presented pink satin evening boots with ribbon at the top of the shaft,[69] part of an increased emphasis on evening clothes in the collection.[70] His evening dresses were as short as his day dresses,[71] but evening trousers dominated.[72] Evening styles could have accents of Space Age metallic silver, metallic pink, metallic green, and other colors, all combined with and dominated by Courrèges's signature stark white, the sheen provided by ciré finishes,[73] lamé, sequins,[74] geometric paillettes,[75] and vinyl.[76][77] Bareness continued to be a feature, especially in evening clothes, where midriffs and backs were often on display. The presentation included a model getting dressed from a state of near nudity.[78] Starting with this collection, models dressing and undressing onstage would be a mainstay of Courrèges shows that would last into the early 1970s.[79] The most talked-about hats from the collection were squared-off bonnets that matched the clothes and tied in the middle of the chin.[80] Smaller, tightly tailored hats set on the crown of the head were also shown. Short, white gloves were included with almost everything. The models used by Courrèges this season were famously slim, muscular, and very tanned, striding out to the beat of drums.[81][82][83]
He continued with his spare, futuristic autumn 1964 styles into spring of 1965, when he shortened his skirts even more and opened the toes of his signature calf-high white boots.[84] His spring 1965 collection also included flat Mary Jane shoes, a style that would become a mainstay for the designer through the end of the decade. His spring 1965 versions had the same open toes as the boots and featured a bow on the instep strap.[85] Some of the boots also had a wraparound horizontal cutout near the top of the shaft, suggesting an absent ribbon. The open toe on this footwear was not the shaped, contoured hole usually seen on open-toed pumps but what looked like a straight lopping off of the front of the foot piece or as if the front of the toe piece hadn't been sewn down to the sole but had just been left open, the toes hidden beneath but receiving air from the open end. Other accessories included opaque white glasses with a slightly curved horizontal slit for vision;[86][87] short white gloves; low, narrow hip-belts; band-edged, squared-off, cowboy- and mortarboard-looking hats with chin straps;[88][89][90][91] and striped scarves to match outfits.[92] The collection was still largely white,[93] but included more colors, including pastels, brights,[94] navy blue, and black, as well as some plaids and stripes.[95][96] Some jackets were lined in large, graphic stripes.[97] He made prominent use of graphic banding for emphasis,[98][99][100] including along the inseams of trousers.[101] His trousers this season sat lower on the hip and were no longer slit over the foot.[102] Pockets were now mere horizontal slits, often outlined in the same color as the banding.[103] He showed a lone pair of jodhpurs in yellow-and-white plaid.[104] His new shorter skirts were given the most emphasis this time, still carefully tailored to a geometric trapeze shape in minimal, sleeveless or short-sleeved shift dresses, many with small, rolled, stand-away collars and lapels.[105][106][107] Necklines could be round or square.[108] Coats were similar but with long sleeves.[109] Most waistlines were dropped to hip level and marked with a thin belt.[110][111] New this season were suspender dresses/suspender skirts, miniskirts with suspender-like extensions over the shoulders. These suspender skirts were often in wide horizontal stripes with matching coats or jackets and worn with sleeveless or minimally sleeved white tops.[112][113] Suits were double- or single-breasted.[114] Eveningwear was in the same shapes as daywear but with sections made to shimmer with solid coverings of tiny sequins.[115] This season's runway strip scene involved a pink wool suit being removed to reveal Courrèges undergarments consisting of sleeveless top, hip-slung short shorts, and calf-high socks, all in a transparent fabric embroidered with white dots.[116][117] This spring 1965 collection built on the reputation of the previous two collections to achieve an astounding level of influence.[118][119]
Controversy over who created the idea for the miniskirt revolves around Courrèges and Mary Quant. Courrèges explicitly claimed to have invented it, accusing his London rival to the claim, Quant, of merely "commercialising" it.[120] Courrèges presented short skirts (four inches above the knee) in January 1965 for that year's Spring/Summer collection.[121] He had presented "above-the-knee" skirts in the previous year, with his August 1964 haute couture presentation proclaimed the "best show seen so far" for that season by The New York Times.[122] Valerie Steele has stated that Courrèges was designing short skirts as early as 1961, although she champions Quant's claim to have created the miniskirt first as being more convincingly supported by evidence.[120] Others, such as Jess Cartner-Morley of The Guardian explicitly credit Courrèges with having invented the miniskirt.[123] The Independent also stated that "Courreges was the inventor of the miniskirt: at least in his eyes and those of the French fashion fraternity ... The argument came down to high fashion vs street fashion and to France versus Britain – there's no conclusive evidence either way."[1] British Vogue considered John Bates the true inventor of the miniskirt, rather than Courrèges or Quant.[124]
Alongside short skirts, Courrèges was renowned for his trouser suits, cut-out backs and midriffs, all designed for a new type of athletic, active young woman.[121] Steele has described Courrèges's work as a "brilliant couture version of youth fashion."[120] One of Courrèges's most distinctive looks, a knit bodystocking with a gabardine miniskirt slung around the hips, was widely copied and plagiarised, much to his chagrin, and it would be 1967 before he again held a press showing for his work.[121]
Disturbed by the uncontrolled copying of his fall 1964 and spring 1965 lines, Courrèges declined to present a fall 1965 collection and wouldn't show again until 1967. He produced no collections for fall 1965,[125] spring 1966, or fall 1966.[126] He was bothered especially by the low quality of the copies he'd seen, feeling that the average woman was being denied high quality because of shoddy imitations.[127][128] He also became concerned about affordability, resolving to create a lower-priced ready-to-wear line so that more people could have access to his work.[129] Like a number of particularly young designers of the time,[130][131] he began to see haute couture, with its multiple fittings and high cost, as outdated and out of step with modern women's lives and with economic realities.[132] He spent his time trying to secure manufacturers who could produce high-quality, lower-cost garments for a new ready-to-wear line that Courrèges would call Couture Future,[133][134] to be sold in a new boutique downstairs from his couture salon. He began referring to his couture line as Prototypes. While the new ready-to-wear line would be roughly a quarter the cost of his couture garments and thus accessible to more women,[135] it was still quite expensive.[136] His headquarter salon was being moved from Kleber Avenue to François I Street in Paris, enabled by backing from French beauty concern l'Oreal.[137]
Courrèges's favoured materials included plastics such as vinyl and stretch fabrics like Lycra.[5] While he preferred white and silver, he often used flashes of citrus colour,[138] and the predominantly white designs in his August 1964 show were tempered with touches of his signature clear pink, a "bright stinging" green, various shades of brown from dark to pale, and poppy red.[122]
In 1967 Courrèges married Coqueline Barrière, his design assistant. They had met while working together at Balenciaga, and worked together as a husband and wife team for the rest of his life.[138]
In 1968 Courrèges sold a share of his company to L'Oréal in order to finance his expansion, which, by 1972, included 125 boutiques around the world. That year, Courrèges was commissioned to design staff uniforms for the Munich Olympics that year.[138] He began offering menswear in 1973.[138] He also developed fragrances such as Empreinte, Courrèges Homme, Eau de Courrèges, Courrèges Blue, Sweet Courrèges, and Generation Courrèges.[2] In clothing, he remained devoted to the Space Age styles he had established during the 1960s, not changing his characteristic design features even as fashion changed during the 1970s.[139] At the end of the 1970s, Courrèges signed licensing agreements for lines of several garments, from shoes to towels.[2] In 1978 and '79, signs appeared among the avant-garde[140][141] and then mainstream designers[142][143][144] of a sixties revival, and Courrèges reintroduced some of his most famous styles from the mid-sixties, adding more primary color for interest.[145]
In early 1983, Courrèges worked with the Japanese motor company Honda to design special editions of their TACT motor scooter. By 2005, Itokin held the Japanese ready-to-wear license for the Courrèges brand, with a retail value of €50 million.[146] By this point, Coqueline Courrèges had succeeded her husband as artistic director for the brand, Courrèges having retired in 1995 following their successful reclamation of the brand in 1994 despite several ownership changes.[138]
In 1984 Courrèges designed the Peugeot "Courrèges" bicycle, a limited edition model in two colourways – pale blue, and white with pink colour pops, and with matching panniers, chain guard, handlebar grips and mudguards, with Sturmey-Archer hub gears. [147]
In 2011, André and Coqueline Courrèges sold the Courrèges brand for more than 10 million euros ($13.05 million) to two Young & Rubicam advertising executives, Jacques Bungert and Frédéric Torloting.[138][148] By 2012, total revenue for the brand was about 20 million euros.[149]
In 2014, Groupe Artemis, the personal investment vehicle of François-Henri Pinault, purchased a minority stake in Courrège. In 2018 Groupe Artemis became the majority shareholder of the brand.[150] Nicholas di Felice was appointed creative director in September 2020, and has been credited with revitalizing the brand and bringing it back to relevance.[151]
Space design
editCourrège's Spring 1964 collection established his impact on the fashion industry and named him the Space Age designer. The line consisted of "architecturally-sculpted, double-breasted coats with contrasting trim, well-tailored, sleeveless or short-sleeved minidresses with dropped waistlines and detailed welt seaming, and tunics worn with hipster pants".[6] A notable look was the linear minidresses with revolutionary tailoring with cut-out panels that displayed waists, midriffs and backs. Courrège had strong beliefs within the liberation of fashion. He emphasized that "A woman's body must be hard and free, not soft and harnessed. The harness – the girdle and bra – is the chain of the slave."[1] Which is why his cut-out panel garments were worn without bras.
Accessories were inspired by astronauts' equipment such as goggles, helmets and flat boots. White and metallic colour ways were implemented to emphasise the futuristic collection.[152] He utilised unconventional materials such as metal, plastic and PVC which was unusual for couture ateliers.[152] The entire collection was celebrated with British Vogue announced that 1964 was "the year of Courrèges".[152] The New York Times described him as "the brightest blaze of the year" to emphasise the change from the little black dress to the white dress. Designers such as Pierre Cardin and Paco Rabanne took influences towards "future" fashion looks. With new popularity, his designs trickled down to mass production companies that created affordable designs similar to Courrèges.
Later life and death
editCourrèges suffered from Parkinson's disease for the last 30 years of his life.[5] He died on 7 January 2016 aged 92, in Neuilly-sur-Seine outside Paris[3] and was survived by his wife and their daughter.[138]
His death was published in notable media outlets and many designers went to celebrate his life online. President François Hollande went to Twitter to say, "A revolutionary designer, André Courrèges made his mark on haute couture using geometric shapes and new materials."[3] Courrèges was a designer who looked to the future. He predicted the idea of healthy living and toned bodies through his book in 1982. Carla Sozzani, the owner of 10 Corso Como stated that, "It changed the concept of couture, marking the turn of fashion into a new era."[3]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Andre Courreges, designer who gave the world the miniskirt, dies at 92". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
- ^ a b c Kellogg, Ann T.; Peterson, Amy T.; Bay, Stefani; Swindell, Natalie (2002). In an influential fashion : an encyclopedia of nineteenth-and twentieth-century fashion designers and retailers who transformed dress. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. p. 73. ISBN 0-313-31220-6. OCLC 47216469.
- ^ a b c d Friedman, Vanessa (2016). "André Courrèges, Fashion Designer Who Redefined Couture, Dies at 92". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
- ^ Erik Orsenna (2008). Courrèges (in French). Éditions Xavier Barral. p. 228. ISBN 978-2-915173-27-7.
- ^ a b c d e Weil, Martin (9 January 2016). "Andre Courrèges, 92, French fashion designer known for miniskirt, dies". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
- ^ a b "Savannah College of Art and Design". 0-www.bloomsburyfashioncentral.com.library.scad.edu. Retrieved 8 October 2017.[permanent dead link ]
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (29 July 1963). "Showing by Courreges Hailed in Paris". The New York Times: 13. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
He has an unerring sense of proportion. He knows how to cut, and he has taste....
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (29 July 1963). "Showing by Courreges Hailed in Paris". The New York Times: 13. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
Courrèges has always believed in short skirts. This season they just covered the top of the knee, which made them the shortest skirts shown here to date.
- ^ a b "Savannah College of Art and Design". 0-www.bloomsburyfashioncentral.com.library.scad.edu. Retrieved 8 October 2017.[permanent dead link ]
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1961". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, the Penguin Group. p. 267. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
Courrèges had broken away from Balenciaga, but his style echoed Balenciaga's clean lines.
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1963". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, The Penguin Group. p. 276. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
Courrèges showed white for his winter collection, another indication of the influence of his maestro, Balenciaga.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (29 July 1963). "Showing by Courreges Hailed in Paris". The New York Times: 13. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
He showed white for town, for evening and for country....[H]is extraordinary tweeds were woven with white or shown over white dresses.
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1963". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, The Penguin Group. p. 275. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
Courrèges's Indian-inspired, leather-thonged tunic coat in ribbed wool jersey, scarfed silk overblouse and narrow, prominently creased trousers breaking over white kid boots.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (29 July 1963). "Showing by Courreges Hailed in Paris". The New York Times: 13. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
The pants...covered the tops of shoes like spats.
- ^ Howell, Georgina (1978). "1963". In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd. p. 280. ISBN 0-14-00-4955-X.
'Boots, boots, and more boots are marching up and down like seven leaguers, climbing to new leg lengths.' Every woman who owns a tweed suit is buying a pair of boots, and there are dozens of heights and shapes to choose from.
- ^ "Boots Take Over: For Every Weather, Total Chic", Vogue, p. 46, August 1963
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (29 July 1963). "Showing by Courreges Hailed in Paris". The New York Times: 13. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
...[H]is [boots] were a new length. They hit at mid-calf, like those worn by majorettes. He showed them in glistening white, black reptile and leather...
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1963". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, The Penguin Group. p. 274. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
Paris raved about white kidskin boots from Courrèges...
- ^ O'Keeffe, Linda (2014). "The Shoe that left an Imprint: The Go-Go Boot". Shoes: A Celebration of Pumps, Sandals, Slippers & More. Workman Publishing. pp. 338–339. ISBN 978-0761173434.
- ^ Cumming, Valerie; Cunnington, C. W.; Cunnington, P. E. (2010). The dictionary of fashion history. Oxford: Berg. p. 108. ISBN 9781847887382.
- ^ O'Hara, Georgina (1986). The encyclopaedia of fashion. New York: H. N. Abrams. p. 79. ISBN 9780810908826.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (15 October 1972). "The Man Who Made the 'Rag Business' Respectable". The New York Times: SM88.
[When asked,] 'Which designers do you admire?' [fashion designer Norman Norell answered:]...'There is Mme. Gres, of course....And in the old days, there were Vionnet, Chanel and Balenciaga...Courreges....He did change fashion for a while'.
- ^ Howell, Georgina (1978). "1964". In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd. p. 284. ISBN 0-14-00-4955-X.
'Courrèges invents the moon girl.'...The year of Courrèges....From now on sixties fashion will revolve round bare knees, the trouser suit, outsize sunglasses, white leather boots, white and silver.
- ^ Giraud, Francoise (12 September 1965). "After Courrèges, What Future for the Haute Couture?". The New York Times: 110.
A dress by Courrèges...is a very pure white and rigorously smooth, with the seams placed in such a way that nothing is tightly fitted, nothing hinders you.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (3 August 1964). "Courreges is Star of Best Show Seen So Far". The New York Times: 14.
His controversial pants suits, above‐the-knee skirts and sleek midcalf boots have aroused much excitement since they were introduced last season. They made sense and, at the same time, gave women a bold new perspective about their lives.
- ^ Heathcote, Phyllis W. "Fashion and Dress". 1966 Britannica Book of the Year: Events of 1965. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. p. 297.
One had the impression that he was designing for some brave new world, for a new young race, for a different social order.
- ^ Bender, Marylin (28 May 1965). "Is This Courreges's Vision of Space-Age Women?". The New York Times: 28.
[Courrèges's]...intention is to liberate young, fast-moving moderns from corsets, high heels, and other fashion appurtenances that strike him as fossilized vestiges...
- ^ "Courrèges Won't Show, Seeks to Control Copies". The New York Times: 22. 20 July 1965.
Functionalism is the basic theme of Courrèges's clothes...A woman's clothes, the...designer believes, must be in keeping with this day and age and must help her cope with it. No gimmicks or tricks...can replace a dress that has been conceived with its function in mind...
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (16 January 1964). "Paris Notes: The Trends for Spring". The New York Times: 32.
Snug dresses are...uncomfortable, he points out...
- ^ Heathcote, Phyllis W. "Fashion and Dress". 1966 Britannica Book of the Year: Events of 1965. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. pp. 296–297.
...Courrèges made an uncompromising statement in favour of what could only be described as asexual clothes: ultrashort skirts (cut to well above the knee), a flattened and geometrically constructed body line...One of the immediate results of the Courrèges influence was to iron out the natural contours of the female body....Starkly realistic as was the Courrèges formula, it was not masculine....[M]any critics were disturbed at the asexual aspect of the clothes. 'It is obvious,' a well-known male fashion reporter was heard to murmur after the February collection, 'that a third sex is needed to wear these clothes'.
- ^ Duka, John (8 September 1981). "A Farsighted Man of Fashion". The New York Times: C6.
Without hesitation, [fashion historian Robert Riley] answers that the most influential designers were Chanel, Dior and Courreges, because 'each of them epitomized at one point in time a really changed point of view'.
- ^ Sweetinburgh, Thelma. "Fashion and Dress". 1966 Britannica Book of the Year: Events of 1965. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. pp. 296–297.
The most important influence on world fashion during 1965 came from...André Courrèges. For its far-reaching repercussions, his widely publicized...collection could only be compared with the Christian Dior 'New Look,' which revolutionized world fashion overnight in 1947.
- ^ Giraud, Francoise (12 September 1965). "After Courrèges, What Future for the Haute Couture?". The New York Times: SM50.
In [1947] it was Christian Dior who regained the supremacy Paris lost during the war. In 1954 it was Chanel, who made a triumphant personal comeback. In 1965 it has been Courrèges whose show in January...made him a super-star of haute couture.
- ^ Howell, Georgina (1978). "1967-68". In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd. p. 296. ISBN 0-14-00-4955-X.
1967-68...mark[ed] the change in direction from futurist to romantic fashion....[i]n reaction to the uniformity of geometric haircuts and 'functional' fashion, stiff carved tweed shifts and creaking plastic...
- ^ Battelle, Kenneth. "Fashion: Hair Styles". Collier's 1966 Year Book Covering the Year 1965. Crowell Collier and MacMillan, Inc. p. 214.
In tune with the space-age fashions of designer André Courrèges, English hairdresser Vidal Sassoon introduced a style that was boyish and sleek, sophisticated and sexless.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (7 August 1964). "This is the Look from the French Couture for Fall '64". The New York Times: 32.
Paris has finally approved of the pants suit, first started by André Courrèges in his spring collection. This time even Coco Chanel, who is never stampeded, showed pants...
- ^ Bender, Marylin (12 June 1964). "Questions Being Raised with Hems". The New York Times: 39. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
Rudi Gernreich and Jacques Tiffeau...have chopped daytime hems off at three inches above the knee. Mr. Gernreich admitted that he had been inspired to do so by Courrèges...
- ^ Doonan, Simon (1 October 2001). "Zee Future Fashion Eez Cool! Ungaro, Gernreich Still Cut It". The New York Observer. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
I...begged [Ungaro] to decode the enigma of space-age chic and to explain why he, of all people, abandoned the cause. 'Ze space-age look was very short-lived. It was not comfortable...,' said the couturier....'Courrèges et moi...work[ed] for Balenciaga....Balenciaga was obsessed with cut and structure and architecture....[W]e chop 20 centimeters off the skirt, and, voila, le space age'.
- ^ Blackwell, Betsy Talbot. "Fashions". The American Peoples Encyclopedia 1966 Encyclopedia Yearbook: Events of 1965. Grolier Incorporated. p. 231.
Courrèges...did not show a collection in the fall, but his former associate Ungaro worked the same vein.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (30 August 1981). "The Ultimate Luxury". The New York Times: 206. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
Emanuel Ungaro..offered softer versions of the Courrèges look in the mid-1960's.
- ^ Emerson, Gloria (31 July 1966). "The Unchanging Mme Gres and the Mischievous Mr. Capucci". The New York Times: F46. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
Ungaro gave the impression of a man who is trapped by a few Courrèges shapes and can neither improve them nor forget them....Ungaro's adaptation[s] of Andre Courrèges's ideas always look like a photograph slightly out of focus. He has a new squared silver boot designed by Roger Vivier, and the models...wear a silvery nylon...wig...
- ^ Emerson, Gloria (9 March 1964). "Courreges Turns Artists Into Critics". The New York Times: 28.
...Mr. Courrèges said that 'the most rigorous works of Kandinsky' had inspired him,' but he added that one factor in the 'logical composition' of his clothes had been his careful study of the 'great architects of today, above all others Le Corbusier and Saarinen'.
- ^ Taylor, Angela (20 August 1964). "Pants Suits for the City Stir Debate". The New York Times: 32.
Will women give up skirts for pants in town, as André Courrèges...has been saying for over a year?...[T]wo...secretaries...shopping for slacks at a department store last week...both loved the idea of the pants suit as done by Courrèges...
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (3 February 1964). "Courreges Stresses Modern Look; Simonetta and Fabiani Play Up Softness". The New York Times: 20.
André Courrèges...showed a beautiful, almost all‐white collection.
- ^ Taylor, Angela (1 January 1965). "1964 – The Year When Everyone Had Fun with Fashion". The New York Times: 23.
For the first time in many years, the widely copied fashion 'Ford' was not a Chanel suit but Courreges's neat little chemise dress,...copied in everything from leather to knit.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (3 February 1964). "Courreges Stresses Modern Look; Simonetta and Fabiani Play Up Softness". The New York Times: 20.
André Courrèges...firmly believes in...above‐the‐knee skirts...His skirts are...way above the knee...when worn with boots,...longer, although they still expose the knee, when worn with low‐heeled pumps....Dresses were outstanding because they were uncomplicated. They were chemises with short or the barest of sleeves.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (3 February 1964). "Courreges Stresses Modern Look; Simonetta and Fabiani Play Up Softness". The New York Times: 20.
André Courrèges...firmly believes in...smooth, mid‐calf boots....Courreges...is the only one in Paris to show boots for spring....
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (3 February 1964). "Courreges Stresses Modern Look; Simonetta and Fabiani Play Up Softness". The New York Times: 20.
André Courrèges thinks modern. He firmly believes in pants‐suits for town....[H]e said..., 'Women don't wear pants to the office yet, but they will.'...The show...started with...pantsuits.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (16 January 1964). "Paris Notes: The Trends for Spring". The New York Times: 32.
Courrèges will continue to show pants...In his attempt to bring the couture into line with life, he believes that pants...make more sense for driving a car than a narrow skirt.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (7 August 1964). "This is the Look from the French Couture for Fall, '64". The New York Times: 32.
Paris has finally approved of the pants suit, first started by Andre Courrèges in his spring collection....
- ^ Howell, Georgina (1978). "1964". In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd. p. 284. ISBN 0-14-00-4955-X.
Trouser suits are lean, the trousers curved up at the ankle in front, dipped over the heel at the back...
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (3 February 1964). "Courreges Stresses Modern Look; Simonetta and Fabiani Play Up Softness". The New York Times: 20.
The Courrèges polo coat in camel hair...is slender through the body with low back vents and white leather buttons....Rows of buttons, usually white ones, pairs of pockets and martingales were the only details on impeccably tailored suits....Courrèges's newest jacket...bloused in the back with short sleeves.
- ^ Howell, Georgina (1978). "1964". In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd. p. 284. ISBN 0-14-00-4955-X.
...[O]verblouses are straight and square-ish, jackets single breasted with a back half-belt...
- ^ Howell, Georgina (1978). "1964". In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd. p. 284. ISBN 0-14-00-4955-X.
'Coats are seven-eighths.'...Seven-eighths coat in camel reversing to white gabardine over a white gabardine dress.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (3 February 1964). "Courreges Stresses Modern Look; Simonetta and Fabiani Play Up Softness". The New York Times: 20.
Worn with this were...huge...hats...
- ^ Howell, Georgina (1978). "1964". In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd. p. 284. ISBN 0-14-00-4955-X.
...[C]oat...and...suit...worn with 'space helmets' and white kid boots.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (28 March 1964). "Simple, Brimmed Hat is In Demand". The New York Times: 13.
...Mrs. Ernest Byfield...order[s] the white Chanel sailor [hat] – along with the huge Courreges bucket [hat].
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (3 February 1964). "Courreges Stresses Modern Look; Simonetta and Fabiani Play Up Softness". The New York Times: 20.
A model entered the room demurely covered up in crunchy white lace. When she turned around, her tunic swung open from a satin‐bow closing at the neck and bared her back down to a matching bow on low-slung pants.
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1964". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, The Penguin Group. p. 279, 280. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
Courrèges's white guipure lace suit with straight trousers lined with cocoa-coloured silk....
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (3 February 1964). "Courreges Stresses Modern Look; Simonetta and Fabiani Play Up Softness". The New York Times: 20.
He showed it with dignity to the sound of classical guitar in a salon that faintly smelled of hyacinth.
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1964". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, The Penguin Group. p. 279. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
Courrèges hit the headlines with his 'Space Age' collection....Vogue commented, 'Courrèges clearly dreams of moon parties'.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 August 1964). "Courreges's Artistry Revealed in Photographs of Paris Styles". The New York Times: 28.
André Courrèges stole most of the thunder of the recent couture collections.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 August 1964). "Courreges's Artistry Revealed in Photographs of Paris Styles". The New York Times: 28.
This year, he creased pants fore and aft.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (3 August 1964). "Courreges is Star of Best Show Seen So Far". The New York Times: 14.
Pants suits are the nerve cells of his newest collection....He uses the same deep V slash so they break prettily over a boot. In back, the trousers go from the hip to the bottom of the heel in one smooth stroke. Their newness lies in a slightly narrower cut and in seams that often mark the front and back of the legs with deep creases.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 January 1965). "Courreges Remains an Individualist; Castillo and Venet Prefer Soft Lines". The New York Times: 27.
...[A] small set-in sleeve stamped every Courrèges dress as his.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (3 August 1964). "Courreges is Star of Best Show Seen So Far". The New York Times: 14.
Jackets are notably longer and often have deep vents in back. There is a new seam that circles around the region of the hipbones.
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1964". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, The Penguin Group. p. 279, 280. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
His precise, unadorned line was achieved through perfect cut and handling of the fabric. He used the new triple gabardine from Nattier for trousers, suits and dresses that seemed sculpted rather than sewn...
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (3 August 1964). "Courreges is Star of Best Show Seen So Far". The New York Times: 14.
There wasn't a pair of shoes in the collection.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (3 August 1964). "Courreges is Star of Best Show Seen So Far". The New York Times: 14.
Trousers are still worn with low‐heeled boots made of suède, lizard, patent, white and bright leathers. This year's boots, which rise to the first swell of the calf, have pleated tops. For evening the same boot looks small and refined in satin with a delicate ribbon circling the cuff.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (3 August 1964). "Courreges is Star of Best Show Seen So Far". The New York Times: 14.
There were more evening clothes than ever before.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 August 1964). "Courreges's Artistry Revealed in Photographs of Paris Styles". The New York Times: 28.
Courrèges made evening dresses for the first time this season. They were as short as his daytime dresses and also worn with boots.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 August 1964). "Courreges's Artistry Revealed in Photographs of Paris Styles". The New York Times: 28.
His pants suits, a fashion carried over from last season, appeared in greater number for day and were glamorized for evening.
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1964". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, The Penguin Group. p. 279, 280. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
More controversial was a single rectangle of ciré material worn as a coat...Courrèges's ciré bathtowel wrap, red felt hood and shiny red boots.
- ^ Howell, Georgina (1978). "1964". In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd. p. 284. ISBN 0-14-00-4955-X.
Courrèges's...silver sequin pants tied with white satin ribbon...
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 August 1964). "Courreges's Artistry Revealed in Photographs of Paris Styles". The New York Times: 28.
This sleeveless dress and jacket is entirely pailletted in a clear, birthday-candle pink.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (3 August 1964). "Courreges is Star of Best Show Seen So Far". The New York Times: 14.
...[H]e has discovered a shiny vinyl‐like material...It was used most often for pants.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 August 1964). "Courreges's Artistry Revealed in Photographs of Paris Styles". The New York Times: 28.
Shining black vinyl was used...
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (3 August 1964). "Courreges is Star of Best Show Seen So Far". The New York Times: 14.
One outfit, in a brilliant poppy red lace, started off with a strip tease in reverse.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 January 1965). "Courreges Remains an Individualist; Castillo and Venet Prefer Soft Lines". The New York Times: 27.
A strip tease scene in each show gives Courrèges a chance to show his humor.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (3 August 1964). "Courreges is Star of Best Show Seen So Far". The New York Times: 14.
The bonnet that all Courrèges's mannequins wore looked like a squared baby's cap that tied in a large stiff bow smack on the chin.
- ^ Howell, Georgina (1978). "1964". In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd. p. 284. ISBN 0-14-00-4955-X.
To the throbbing of tom-toms in his hot white showroom on the avenue Kléber he parades clothes that seem to be the projection of a space age far ahead....Courrèges's 'moon girl'...with...suntanned midriff.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (3 August 1964). "Courreges is Star of Best Show Seen So Far". The New York Times: 14.
...[A] deeply bronzed brunette mannequin...in...a satin bra the same color as her tanned skin...
- ^ Emerson, Gloria (27 January 1968). "Courreges Stirs Excitement with Seductive, Sugary 'Poetry'". The New York Times: 32.
They...look[ed] like flat-chested farm girls with hockey-player legs.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 January 1965). "Courreges Remains an Individualist; Castillo and Venet Prefer Soft Lines". The New York Times: 27.
The famous white boot had an open toe.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 January 1965). "Courreges Remains an Individualist; Castillo and Venet Prefer Soft Lines". The New York Times: 27.
[Boots were] put aside occasionally for a Mary-Jane flat with the same open toe and a bow on the instep.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 January 1965). "Courreges Remains an Individualist; Castillo and Venet Prefer Soft Lines". The New York Times: 27.
The models in André Courrèges's spring collection wore white goggles with center slits to see through.
- ^ Cassini, Oleg. "Fashion". Collier's 1966 Year Book Covering the Year 1965. Crowell Collier and MacMillan, Inc. pp. 211, 213.
Courrèges' slitted sunglasses were the perfect accessory...
- ^ Zwecker, Peg. "Fashion". The 1966 World Book Year Book: Reviewing Events of 1965. Chicago, Illinois, USA: Field Enterprises Educational Corporation. p. 348.
He borrowed the cowboy hat – chin strap and all – to top the geometric looks of his clothes.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 January 1965). "Courreges Remains an Individualist; Castillo and Venet Prefer Soft Lines". The New York Times: 27.
Ten-gallon hats inspired Courrèges's white straw with navy banding and a tie right on the chin.
- ^ Blackwell, Betsy Talbot. "Fashions". 1966 American Peoples Encyclopedia Yearbook: Events of 1965. Grolier Incorporated. p. 231.
His hats were like little girls' leghorns, but square!
- ^ "Courreges's Avant-Garde Approach Produces Most Exciting Fashions". The New York Times: 19. 1 March 1965.
Mortarboard hat, open-toe boots...
- ^ "Courreges's Avant-Garde Approach Produces Most Exciting Fashions". The New York Times: 19. 1 March 1965.
Striped scarf accents white pants suit.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 January 1965). "Courreges Remains an Individualist; Castillo and Venet Prefer Soft Lines". The New York Times: 27.
...[W]hite...was used this time as relief.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 January 1965). "Courreges Remains an Individualist; Castillo and Venet Prefer Soft Lines". The New York Times: 27.
Lime green dress has low-set white belt, scooped neck and bare arms.
- ^ "Courreges's Avant-Garde Approach Produces Most Exciting Fashions". The New York Times: 19. 1 March 1965.
Large doses of white, a Courrèges favorite, contrasted with blazer stripes of navy or faint pastel plaids or stripes.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 January 1965). "Courreges Remains an Individualist; Castillo and Venet Prefer Soft Lines". The New York Times: 27.
There were plenty of...pastel plaids and stripes...
- ^ "Courreges's Avant-Garde Approach Produces Most Exciting Fashions". The New York Times: 19. 1 March 1965.
Navy bands outline white seams of pants with stripe-lined jacket.
- ^ "Courreges's Avant-Garde Approach Produces Most Exciting Fashions". The New York Times: 19. 1 March 1965.
Navy bands are staccato notes on Courrèges's white ensembles.
- ^ Blackwell, Betsy Talbot. "Fashions". 1966 American Peoples Encyclopedia Yearbook: Events of 1965. Grolier Incorporated. p. 231.
Everything was bound in black – like a stylized comic-strip drawing in bold crayon strokes.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 January 1965). "Courreges Remains an Individualist; Castillo and Venet Prefer Soft Lines". The New York Times: 27.
Banding – white on white, navy on pink or camel, navy on white – outlines the angles of dresses, coats and suits. Courrèges pants...also have banding.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 January 1965). "Courreges Remains an Individualist; Castillo and Venet Prefer Soft Lines". The New York Times: 27.
In every daytime pair, banding formed a Y-shaped seam in front that lead to bands down the inside of each leg.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 January 1965). "Courreges Remains an Individualist; Castillo and Venet Prefer Soft Lines". The New York Times: 27.
Courrèges's new pants suits in white cotton has navy banding. The much-copied slit over the instep has been sewn up.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 January 1965). "Courreges Remains an Individualist; Castillo and Venet Prefer Soft Lines". The New York Times: 27.
Pockets on the dress and jacket are shaped like slots of a mailbox.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 January 1965). "Courreges Remains an Individualist; Castillo and Venet Prefer Soft Lines". The New York Times: 27.
There was one pair of jodhpurs in a striking yellow and white plaid.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 January 1965). "Courreges Remains an Individualist; Castillo and Venet Prefer Soft Lines". The New York Times: 27.
Courrèges's beautifully scaled, still very short, dresses stole the scene from his low-on-the-hip pants.
- ^ "Courreges's Avant-Garde Approach Produces Most Exciting Fashions". The New York Times: 19. 1 March 1965.
Dresses were scaled to perfection, from glistening white twill to shimmering sequins....Square, bare-neck dress has taupe hip-belt.
- ^ Blackwell, Betsy Talbot. "Fashions". 1966 American Peoples Encyclopedia Yearbook: Events of 1965. Grolier Incorporated. p. 231.
Typical of Courrèges: small, streamlined, precisely tailored white or beige [dresses] with short-short sleeves, crisp little lapels arched back to show a long sweep of throat and collarbone, and short-short skirts balanced by little white boots.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 January 1965). "Courreges Remains an Individualist; Castillo and Venet Prefer Soft Lines". The New York Times: 27.
For summer his dresses have barer arms....The dresses have a wide round neck...or a square neck.
- ^ Blackwell, Betsy Talbot. "Fashions". 1966 American Peoples Encyclopedia Yearbook: Events of 1965. Grolier Incorporated. p. 231.
His coats and suits were like his dresses, but were long-sleeved.
- ^ "Courreges's Avant-Garde Approach Produces Most Exciting Fashions". The New York Times: 19. 1 March 1965.
His low-slung belts circled dresses and coats.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 January 1965). "Courreges Remains an Individualist; Castillo and Venet Prefer Soft Lines". The New York Times: 27.
His dresses with waist-length jackets have belts below the hipbone....The very low belt also circles impeccably tailored coats...
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 January 1965). "Courreges Remains an Individualist; Castillo and Venet Prefer Soft Lines". The New York Times: 27.
This year's version of the tailored coat is gray and white striped wool with narrow, hip-level belt. Matching skirt with long suspenders is worn over a white blouse.
- ^ "Courreges's Avant-Garde Approach Produces Most Exciting Fashions". The New York Times: 19. 1 March 1965.
...[G]ray and white striped wool suspender-dress and matching coat with narrow belt at hipbone. Dress hangs easily from shoulders with cap-sleeved shirt.
- ^ "Courreges's Avant-Garde Approach Produces Most Exciting Fashions". The New York Times: 19. 1 March 1965.
Cap-sleeved suit is double-breasted.
- ^ "Courreges's Avant-Garde Approach Produces Most Exciting Fashions". The New York Times: 19. 1 March 1965.
...[E]vening fashions: His short, spare daytime shapes are repeated, with sequins....[C]urved bodice is white, shimmering skirt lime green. Hip-belted dress has black-sequinned skirt.
- ^ "Courreges's Avant-Garde Approach Produces Most Exciting Fashions". The New York Times: 19. 1 March 1965.
...[W]hite-embroidered nude shorts and top. Mannequin took off pink wool suit and stepped out in what may be the underwear of the future. Socks, the same mid-calf height as his boots, are of same fabric. Shoes are Mary Janes.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (31 January 1965). "Courreges Remains an Individualist; Castillo and Venet Prefer Soft Lines". The New York Times: 27.
...[T]he jacket of a pink suit was peeled off...[T]he sleeveless lace blouse underneath looked almost nude.
- ^ Heathcote, Phyllis W. "Fashion and Dress". 1966 Britannica Book of the Year: Events of 1965. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. pp. 296–297.
The collection hit the fashion world like a bomb....[W]hen in January 1965 the ultrashort skirts appeared and the full message of the rigid, architecturally constructed clothes was understood, there was no longer any doubt: André Courrèges was proclaimed the man of the year and the designer for the future.
- ^ Blackwell, Betsy Talbot. "Fashions". 1966 American Peoples Encyclopedia Yearbook: Events of 1965. Grolier Incorporated. p. 231.
There was the "space-baby" look, with which Courrèges wowed Paris – and everybody – in the spring....This was the most startling innovation, and the most specifically 1965....The world was clearly ready for Courrèges space babies.
- ^ a b c Steele, Valerie (2000). Fifty years of fashion : new look to now (English ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 51–64. ISBN 9780300087383.
- ^ a b c Polan, Brenda; Tredre, Roger (2009). "André Courrèges". The great fashion designers (English ed.). Oxford: Berg Publishers. pp. 123–125. ISBN 9780857851741.
- ^ a b Peterson, Patricia (3 August 1964). "Courrèges Is Star of Best Show Seen So Far". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
- ^ Cartner-Morley, Jess (2 December 2000). "Chelsea girl who instigated a new era". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
- ^ Garments worn by Marit Allen at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Accessed 15 March 2010
- ^ Giraud, Francoise (12 September 1965). "After Courrèges, What Future for the Haute Couture?". The New York Times: 110.
In the absence of André Courrèges, the Callas of French haute couture, the winter [1965] collections...have been like an opera sung by the chorus alone.
- ^ Emerson, Gloria (3 March 1967). "New Courreges Boutique: Heaven One Flight Down". The New York Times: 30.
The couturier decided three years ago [1964] to manufacture his own clothes – to spite, and to defeat, the manufacturers who were making fast, careless copies of his designs. It took Courrèges more than two years to do it....29 months of playing peekaboo...
- ^ Emerson, Gloria (4 February 1967). "Andre Courrèges: A Fashion Star Can Make a Comeback". The New York Times: 14.
Courrèges closed his doors to the press after his last collection in January, 1965 because, he said then, he was sick of seeing cheap, badly made copies of his clothes.
- ^ "Courreges Won't Show, Seeks to Control Copies". The New York Times: 22. 20 July 1965.
...Courrèges...announced today that he would not present another collection until he had found 'a functional organization' for the manufacture of his designs....The functional organization he envisages apparently has as its fundamental aim the right of Courrèges to maintain some control over his clothes after he has designed them, to assure that what women wear will be Courrèges and no caricature.
- ^ Giraud, Francoise (12 September 1965). "After Courrèges, What Future for the Haute Couture?". The New York Times: SM50.
At the height of his glory, Courrèges has abandoned art for industry, the hand-sewn for ready-to-wear and the clientele of Society for the ordinary Mme. Durand....[W]hen asked why he stepped down from the pinnacle of haute couture,...[he answered] 'Because I want every woman to be able to wear Courrèges clothes'.
- ^ "1966: Saint Laurent Rive Gauche". Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
In the 1960s, society had evolved in such a way that the norms imposed by haute couture had become obsolete. A growing number of women wanted to be able to dress themselves elegantly and affordably.
- ^ "Designer Provides Basset-Hound Droop in Ready-to-Wear". The New York Times: 30. 24 January 1964.
Among certain fashionable young people in Paris, the couture is outmoded and ready-to‐wear...is the rage.
- ^ Emerson, Gloria (4 February 1967). "Andre Courrèges: A Fashion Star Can Make a Comeback". The New York Times: 14.
He also said then that he thought haute couture was an old-fashioned way to dress women.
- ^ "Courreges Comes Out of Hiding". The New York Times: 50. 20 May 1966.
Infuriated by the pirated copies of his designs, he has not admitted the press, manufacturers or store buyers since January, 1965. He is looking for a way to have his designs manufactured with high quality and moderate prices in America...
- ^ Emerson, Gloria (3 March 1967). "New Courreges Boutique: Heaven One Flight Down". The New York Times: 30.
Courrèges calls his coats and dresses 'couture future' instead of ready-to-wear.
- ^ Giraud, Francoise (12 September 1965). "After Courrèges, What Future for the Haute Couture?". The New York Times: 110.
Courrèges will create, reproduce and distribute his own models by the thousand instead of making ten of each. And he will be able to sell them at...five times less than haute couture prices, by doing away with the fittings and perfecting the technique of cutting and assembling the clothes to reduce labor costs to the minimum.
- ^ Emerson, Gloria (4 February 1967). "Andre Courrèges: A Fashion Star Can Make a Comeback". The New York Times: 14.
Although Courrèges dreamed of being able to dress the girl in the street,...prices on his 'couture future' clothes will be high.
- ^ Emerson, Gloria (4 February 1967). "Andre Courrèges: A Fashion Star Can Make a Comeback". The New York Times: 14.
L'Oreal, Europe's biggest hair products company, backed Courrèges after he closed his doors on Avenue Kleber. Courrèges...moved into, and decorated himself, the two floors he now occupies at 40 Rue François Premier.
- ^ a b c d e f g Friedman, Vanessa (8 January 2016). "André Courrèges, Fashion Designer Who Redefined Couture, Dies at 92". The New York Times. p. A15.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (28 January 1976). "To Courrèges, It's Always 1963". The New York Times: 52. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
...[F]ashion went on to wild and woolier things and Courrèges didn't change his game. Not when hemlines dropped to practically the ankles. Not when stiffness and linings were banished from clothes. To him, it was always 1963. It still is.
- ^ Hyde, Nina (8 December 1979). "A Bath House Turned Disco". The Washington Post. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
...[T]he nouvelle vague [New Wave] crowd dressed a la...1960s...One girl...wears a Courreges mini with short, white Courreges boots.
- ^ Owen, Morfudd (26 January 2019). "Going Underground: Mod Revival Fanzines – In Pictures". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (13 April 1979). "French Ready-to-Wear: The Ever-Changing Message". The New York Times: A12. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
Ready‐to-wear designers...are busily repeating such successes of the 1960s as the knitted shift and the miniskirt.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (13 October 1979). "Knee Highs". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
Some Paris designers have taken...a backward glance at the 1960s. What they have come up with for the opening ready-to-wear showings of 1980s hot-weather fashions are skinny miniskirts and other styles spun off from the 1960s fashions of Courreges, Rudi Gernreich and Paco Rabanne....France Andrevie...must have researched the short-cropped, tube-shaped dresses of Rudi Gernreich, the minis of Courreges and the vinyl and metallic hinged designs of Paco Rabanne...
- ^ Donovan, Carrie (28 October 1979). "Fashion". The New York Times: SM21.
...Karl Lagerfeld's new minidress smacked of Courrèges revisited.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (31 January 1979). "The Shape of Suits to Come". The New York Times: C10.
There...was André Courrèges,...returning to the pure, architectural style that set the mood for clothes in 1963....The calf‐high boots, the above-the-knee hemlines, the no‐waistline shapes. Instead of being mostly in white, they now combined primary colors — blue, red and yellow — with white...
- ^ Chevalier, Michel (2012). Luxury Brand Management. Singapore: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-118-17176-9.
- ^ "Peugeot Courrèges bike -1984".
- ^ Alexandria Sage (24 January 2012), French brand Courreges takes retro fashion online Reuters.
- ^ Alexandria Sage (24 January 2012), French brand Courreges takes retro fashion online Reuters.
- ^ "Our Investments: Courrège". Groupe Artemis. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
- ^ "Nicholas di Felice". Business of Fashion. 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
- ^ a b c Reed, Paula (2012). Fifty Fashion Looks That Changed The 1960s. London: Conran Octopus. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-84091604-1.