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Lacroix is recession’s first big fashion victim
28.05.09
Christian Lacroix today became the first major couture house to fall victim to the recession.
The US-owned fashion label, beloved of such stars as Helen Mirren, Katie Holmes, Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore and Slumdog Millionaire's Freida Pinto, has applied for protection from creditors in a Paris court.
The French couturier, who founded his fashion house in 1987 and rose to fame with his puffball skirts and gowns, has suffered a disastrous downturn in orders for the forthcoming autumn season, particularly in America, with sales down by 35 per cent.
Major US retailers Neiman Marcus Group and Saks said they had reduced orders. Lacroix, 58, has enjoyed huge critical success. He was awarded one of France's highest honours, Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, in 2002 for services to fashion.
But the brand has not made a profit in any year since then. Losses last year were about £9 million.
The Falic Group bought the fashion house in 2005 from LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
Under its new owner, Christian Lacroix expanded in the US, opening stores in New York and Las Vegas and focused heavily on haute couture ranges but they have fallen out of favour since the credit crunch took hold.
The Falic Group has been trying to sell a stake in the company for a year. Christian Lacroix chief executive Nicolas Topiol said efforts to find a rescuer for the company were “directly hit” by the financial crisis.
