As a child Lacroix spent time at art museums, enjoyed reading books from the attic, he attended bullfighting events and enjoyed Gypsy and Provincial traditions. In his youth Lacroix liked Oscar Wilde and the Beatles. He studied Art History at the University of Montpellier, and in 1973 went on to the Sorbonne and the Ecole du Louvre. His aspiration during this time was to become a museum curator. It was during this time he met his future wife Francoise.
In 1973 he also met Jean-Jacques Picart, a connected persona with several haute couture houses. With the help of Picart, Lacroix started working in Hermes, afterwards with Guy Paulin, and in 1981 he started working for Jean Patou. Lacroix managed to put out season after season of popular clothing. Bright colors, luxuriance, and perfection making Lacroix and Picart the popular designers of the time.
In 1987 Lacroix gained the award for "most influential designer" by the CFDA for foreign designers. The same year Lacroix opened his own couture house. In 1988 he began putting out ready-to-wear collections drawing inspiration from diverse cultures. In 1989, Lacroix launched jewelry, handbags, shoes, glasses, scarves and ties. Following that he opened boutiques within Paris, Arles, Toulouse, London, Geneva and Japan.
His collections were based on old culture and folklore and fables of the past. He includes past traditions from all around the world, continuing the line with even more on ethnic arts. Lacroix is also known for his theatrical style which came from his work while in the theatre. This usually shows up with his use of colour in the collections he designs. Along with this, he is also known for his 'le pouf' gown (featuring the ball skirt), as well as closing all his haute couture fashion shows with a model dressed up as a bride.
In October 2002 after the presentation of his spring/summer 2003 collection, Lacroix resigned from the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur by Bernard Arnault, Chairman of LVMH. He served as the Creative Director for the Italian fashion house Emilio Pucci from 2002 till 2005 and left on agreeable terms.
Christian Lacroix has designed many dresses for Hollywood stars among them was the wedding dress of Grammy award winning Christina Aguilera, in the 1990s, famed for being the favorite designer of "Edina Monsoon" from the hit UK sitcom "Absolutely Fabulous". He has also been the designer of the new uniform of Air France staff and crew in 2004. Labels: Top Designers
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