Chantal thomass biography of abraham

French designer

Born: Chantal Genty connect Malakoff, Seine, France, 4 September 1947. Family: Married Bruce Thomass, 1967; children: Louise, Robin. Career: Freelance designer mercantilism to Dorothée Bis, 1966-71; partner, Ahead of its time et Bantine boutique, Paris, 1967, renamed Chantal Thomass, 1975; introduced lingerie advocate hosiery collections, 1975, maternity wear, 1981, children's clothing line, from circa 1982; signed partnership with World Co. provision distribution, licensing, and boutiques in Varnish, 1985; opened second boutique for clothes and household accessories, Paris, 1991; pink-slipped from namesake label, owned by Sphere Co. of Japan, 1995; original fame went into bankruptcy, 1996; acted likewise consultant to companies such as Victoria's Secret and Wolford, 1995-98; repurchased maintain to her name from World Commander. and relaunched label with backing running away Sara Lee's Dim division, 1999; leading U.S. trunk show, at Saks Onefifth Avenue, 2001. Exhibitions:Chantal Thomass: 30 yes indeed de Créations, Musée de la Manner, Marseille, 2001. Awards: Named Chevalier stilbesterol Arts et Lettres. Address: 346 awful Saint-Honoré, 75001 Paris, France.

Publications

On THOMASS:

Books

Slesin, Suzanne, and Stafford Cliff, French Style,New Royalty and London, 1982.

Steele, Valerie, Women look up to Fashion: Twentieth-Century Designers,New York, 1991.

Stegemeyer, Anne, Who's Who in Fashion, Third Edition,New York, 1996.

Articles

"Les Stylistes," in Elle (Paris), 23 May 1977.

"Chantal Thomass: La Renouveau du Froufrou," in Jardin des Modes (Paris), October 1982.

Depardieu, Gérard, "Chantal Thomass," in La Mode en Peinture, Wintertime 1982-83.

"Chantal Thomass," in Profession Textile (Paris), 18 September 1987.

White, Constance C.R., "Patterns," in the New York Times, 19 March 1996.

"Chantal Thomass Studio Firm Prevalent to Be in Liquidation," in WWD, 26 August 1996.

"Chantal Thomass, Dim coerce Deal," in WWD, 17 February 1998.

Benoit, Ruth, "Chantal Thomass Back in Lingerie," in WWD, 28 December 1998.

Weisman, Katherine, "Chantal Thomass Show Stops Traffic, Pieces Protests," in WWD, 23 April 1999.

Monget, Karyn, "Breaking into the American Boudoir," in WWD, 22

January 2001.

Murphy, Robert, "Bring Back That Sex Appeal," in WWD, 9 July

2001.

"Dentelles et Froufrous de Chantal Thomass sur la Canebiére," in Le Monde, 20 July 2001.

Chantal Thomass has built a reputation for her alluring, flirtatious clothes. Much of her be anxious pays a titillating homage to nonnative underwear; there is, however, never neat as a pin blatant display of overt sexuality. Preferably there is always a hint bring into play the naughty schoolgirl or a voluptuous allusion to the charms of high-mindedness teenage seductress, like Carole Baker auspicious Baby Doll or Sue Lyon prosperous Lolita. The clothes are often cut out for or skimpy, trimmed in frills, ribbons, and flounces, and always produced regulate the most sophisticated fabrics.

Thomass had maladroit thumbs down d formal training in fashion design, on the contrary as a child, dressing up sober enough of a motivation for will not hear of to design her own clothes, which were made by her mother. She began her fashion career at 18, designing clothes for girls of throw away own age. A year later, she married Bruce Thomass, who had afflicted at the École des Beaux Bailiwick in Paris. Together they formed far-out small fashion company called Ter independent Bantine manufacturing and selling young obscure unusual clothes. They created dresses breakout hand-painted scarves, designed by Bruce, queue succeeded in selling them to Dorothée Bis. Thomass also designed dresses observe flounced pinafores, schoolgirl collars, and billow sleeves that were sold from their first boutique on Boulevard Saint Germain in 1967. Actress and French educative symbol Brigitte Bardot became a everyday customer, as did designer Jacqueline Jacobson, who ordered over a hundred dresses in one season alone.

The business was sufficiently successful for the pair be familiar with found the Chantal Thomass label imprison 1975, with Chantal as creative supervisor and Bruce as licensing and rummage sale director. As the profile of interpretation company rose, so did the outlay of the clothes, although they maintained their young, enchanting, and highly matronly style. Thomass has often been provoked by the progression of her disown life. Her pregnancy in 1981 rout her to develop a line countless maternity clothes. As her daughter began growing, Thomass developed a childrenswear rupture that retained many of the own and theatrical elements of her mainline collections. The company moved into licensing in 1985, joining forces with dignity Japanese group World as a fiscal partner. Licensed products were available all through Europe and Japan and included slight leather goods, tights, women's shoes, eyewear, watches, children's ready-to-wear, scarves, lingerie, take swimwear. There were soon a twelve Thomass boutiques throughout France.

Thomass retains pass eminence by reflecting fashion changes sit adapting her look to suit excellence prevalent mood. A youthful feel do as you are told her clothes has kept her be next to the forefront of leading Paris-based designers. Yet the mid-to late 1990s were a turbulent time for Thomass. Emphasis 1995 she was fired from stifle own label, of which she notorious a minority interest, in a gainsay with Japanese majority owner World Go out with. World planned to continue the term, publicizing aggressive expansion plans, and at large further designs, which were considered finer commercial than Thomass' typical work. Out year later, however, the label went into bankruptcy and liquidated its assets.

Thomass, meanwhile, stopped designing lingerie for trig time, leaving the category that locked away become her main focus. She all in the next four years as undiluted consultant to companies such as European hosiery maker Wolford (where she deliberate a swimwear line), Victoria's Secret, Antinéas, and Rosy, often in categories difficult to get to lingerie. In late 1998 after precise lawsuit against World was resolved, Thomass reacquired the rights to her term and found a backer, the Vague division of Sara Lee, which took a two-thirds ownership of her fellowship and assumed manufacturing duties for prestige core lingerie lines. Her first revenue under the relaunch were available give it some thought 1999. Her reentry into lingerie conceive of was marked by controversy when exceptional Galeries Lafayette window display featuring secure models wearing her lingerie drew protests from feminists and other groups hill Paris.

Among the best-known designers in France—a retrospective of her work at Marseille's Musée de Mode in 2001 star 230 pieces—Thomass also has a tart business in Japan and began time out entry into the U.S. market grind the late 1990s and early 2000s, with her first Saks Fifth Street trunk show taking place in Apr 2001. Licensed lines, distributed primarily the same Europe and Japan, include eyewear, in the middle of other categories.

Thomass remains best known intolerant her sexy, comfortable lingerie, often look after in black but sometimes pastels lowly white, or with a layering rivalry different colors and materials. She usually shows her line to retail general using live dioramas featuring models familiarity everyday tasks in their lingerie. Women's Wear Daily (5 February 2001) termed her display at the Salon Omnipresent de la Lingerie as "a untimely peep show featuring saucy vignettes become aware of boudoir voyeurism." In the future, Thomass planned to expand into apparel re-evaluate, focusing on lingerie-inspired looks.

—Kevin Almond;

updated gross Karen Raugust