Christian Lacroix May Have Just Shown His Last Couture Show for Fall 2009; Will He Go Back Into LVMH Fold?
by | July 7, 2009 9:51 am
>> Last Friday, employees at Christian Lacroix were informed the the workforce would be cut from 124 to 12, and the house would close at the end of July — effectively reducing it to a licensing operation — unless a buyer could be found. Today at the Arts Decoratifs, Lacroix showed what may be his last couture collection to just over 200 guests, a set of 24 looks entirely privately financed, which the designer described as: "A collection which is finished, but which was not completed under the usual conditions. It is like a sketch, a drawing for a painting . . . the classic repertory of the house, what is left, the hard disk."
The mood was sober, but staid: badges declaring "Christian Lacroix Forever" were handed out and a sign reading similar was held across the runway. There were tears aplenty as the designer took his walk with bride Vlada Roslyakova, and no red carnations were on the seats, ready to toss in the finale as has been the custom at Lacroix's couture shows since he started in 1987. But he did receive a standing ovation, and Lacroix is not ready to give up: "What really churns my stomach is wondering what is going to become of the workrooms and, for the moment, none of the solutions I am looking at would save the couture side of the business."
Some are wondering if he may renew his relationship with LVMH — under whom he originally launched his label in 1987. Just an hour after his own show closed, he was spotted backstage and front row at the LVMH-supported Givenchy show, where he posed for photos with Delphine Arnault. The Times UK noted that Lacroix, "beaming in the front row at Givenchy doesn't look like a man whose label is finished."
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