Forgotten fashion designers

Romeo Gigli.

Halshton

Jessica McClintock. She died last year, at 90.

Thank you Op for starting this thread, and thank you r1 for sharing the link. I'm going to check out the other clips from the account, Style.com.

You don't hear much about Todd Oldham anymore.

Christian Lacroix

R7, Lacroix is still making bank and in the game, but he now specializes in tableware and home decor after an interior design stint.

I don’t know thats she’s a “designer”, but I recently wondered what happened to Kimora Lee Simmons of Baby Phat fame. The empire seems to have crumbled.

And a rewatch of AbFab had me Googling “La QUAH, darling” (see R8).

Mizrahi has a QVC line.

WilliWear

Ferrè

I didn't know Claude Montana was an actual person. I thought it was a made up designer label like Gloria Vanderbilt😜

Jhane Barnes

My ex partner did a bit of modeling in Europe in the mid 80s as an 18-20 yo and had a fling with Claude Montana. He sounded like a creepy user.

Stephen Sprouse.

[quote]Jessica McClintock. She died last year, at 90.

She wasn't a gay man, R4, she doesn't count.

When I was in high school, there was a segment on 60 Minutes or 20/20 about John Bartlett. Young, handsome designer who was taking menswear by storm.

A few years ago, my aunt who worked in a department store chain based in my hometown that wound up going bankrupt sent me a huge box of very nice button-down shirts and polos. At least 30 of them with a note saying they were all going to be sent to Goodwill becuase they just didn't sell. The label on all of them? John Bartlett.

Zac Posen, former Boy Wonder, is starting to resemble these remarks.

WEHT Proenza-Schuler? Are they still around?

Christian Siriano remains the only real success story after years and years of PROJECT RUNWAY.

I didn't know Claude Montana was an actual person. I thought it was a made up designer label like Gloria Vanderbilt😜

and yet Gloria Vanderbilt was an actual person too

Bill Blass

Richard Tyler

Mary McFadden

Zac Posen

Michael Kors pretty much disappeared after he left Project Runway and his company went public.

Michael Korea’s!?? His name sake is on hundreds if not thousands of stores and merchandise sold in department stores r21. Get a clue!!!

Michael Kors I hate auto correct

Botany 9

I was just going to mention Romeo Gigli. I had a couple of his suits and ties.

Stephen Sprouse was such a big deal in the 80s.

Todd Oldham got so much press at one time. Now not a word.

Helmut Lang.

Jill Sander.

Botany 500

Giorgio! McFadden! Ellis! Beene! Fabrice! Blass!

DeWitt! Jillian! Gilbert! Dahl! Evans! Cher!

(I manage to post this at least once a year, either in a fashion thread or "Shit that made me Gay" thread"

Perry Ellis, died from an AIDS related illness.

Ossie Clark, stabbed to death by a former lover.

Edith Head

Mariano Fortuny

Sonia Rykiel

Paco Rabanne

Norman Norell

Geoffrey Beene

Azzedine Alaia

Mary Quant

Jean Patou

Don Loper

John Galliano

The late Coach designer Bonnie Cashin

I was all about the shirts & sweaters of Alexander Julian (Colours line) as an undergrad, and was the object of ridicule (and rightfully so).

Norman Fell

Anna Su - Awful clothes

KMart

Miguel Adrover

Kathy Lee Gifford

Liz Claiborne

[quote]Anna Su - Awful clothes

Her name is Anna Sui and her clothes are not awful at all. Anna's fun designs are influenced by the great Sixties Youthquake designers like Mary Quant and the woman who designed for Biba, Barbara Hulanicki.

I never understood people like Todd Oldham, Isaac Mizrahi, Badgley Mishima, and Randolph Duke, who were hotter than hot…yet quickly faded into obscurity. What did they do wrong? Is it simply a matter of bad business decisions or creative burnout?

Jaclyn Smith

Agnes B, Martin Margiela

Charles James, the greatest and most brilliant off all American coutiers. Repeatedly sabotaged himself because he was a prick. At the end, Halston was trying to sponsor him and James repaid him by publicly accusing Halston of ripping off his designs. Which was true.

Rush Limbaugh

The designer of those mid-1980s Miami Vice "fashions". 🤮🤮🤮

^ courtiers, not coutiers

The label Pierre Cardin got trashed after it was attached to everything and anything. Which is too bad, he came up with a lot of actually very interesting stuff. Just looked it up, he lived to 98, wow.

Now you have me trying to remember a super hot looking male fashion designer who faded into obscurity. He was American.

I remember he was blond and looked like a model. He was fairly popular, he mainly designed womens sportswear. He was popular around the time Willi Smith was designing.

That's Toukie Smith in that photo with Willi, she dated DeNiro for years. Think they had a kid together.

Fred Schwartz

Julie Cooper. Remember when she wanted to be a dress designer? LMAO!

Don Loper

Schiaparelli

R50 for the win!!

Fiorucci

Aramis

Claire McCardell

Hattie Carnegie.

Alexander Julian

Jacques Marcel.

No one could design in burlap quite like he could.

r56...

Cheryl Tiegs fashions sold exclusively at Sears!

Jacques Fath

Pierre Balmain

Mahogany

r56...finally!

Stefanie Powers for Sears

Kathy Ireland for Kmart

Jenny-Lind

Laura Ashley, her ugly clothes were ubiquitous.

Pat Nixon fashions sold exclusively at Ace Hardware.

Melania has a line of designer adult diapers. Lots of gold and sparkles with a confederate flag logo. Can be purchased at the Trump 2024 website.

Bonnie Cashin was amazing, she was a true trendsetter. I can understand why Coach has gone into her archives and have been introducing many of her iconic designs to awhile new generation.

Bonnie's designs from the 1960s, could easily be worn today. Well, not by people who are opposed to fur and leather, I'm talking about the styles and her use of bright colors.

Bonnie was using yellow, bright green, hot pink, orange, purple and many other colors not used in mainstream fashion.

Glo

Egon von Furstenberg

Another vote for Bonnie Cashin...

Stephen Burrows Cardinale ("Ann Marie" on "That Girl") Fiorucci

[quote]Agnes B, Martin Margiela

and Ann Demeulemeester

True. The Belgians are mostly forgotten now.

Young stylish women today would definitely wear Bonnie Cashin's designs from the 1960s & 1970s.

Look at this fab Cashin collection.

Sy Devore

Not designers, but stores featuring trendy clothes

Paraphenaila (national chain) Chiavairi (NYC)

Thea Porter

Betsey Johnson was the original designer for Paraphenalia.

Rae Smith

John Bartlett is still around....

Or...

Rudi Gernreich

John Bartlett's fashions weren't for everyone, so can see that shirts may not have sold in a particular market.

JB's Spring 2013 show....

70s, 80, 90s....people spent money on fashion. Now they spend it on cell phones, electronic equipment, vacations, restaurants...

Jeanne Bice for Quacker Factory

Forgotten model...

Jack Needleman for Galey & Lord

International Male

Marilla Brown Hagen

This model recently died, Brooklyn's own Dorothy McGowan. She made one film, "Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?" then, as her modeling career took off, she quit modeling. She lived in relative obscurity in Westchester, NY.

Her brother, James, a policeman, whose role as lead negotiator in a hostage crisis, was dramatized in the film Dog Day Afternoon.

Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?

R45 Bless your crazy mixed-up heart.

Victor Hugo

Stephen Sprouse

The model @ R94, looks like Donyale Luna.

Donyale had an interesting life, she dated Maximillian Schell, Klaus Kinski, she hung out with Brian Jones, Jagger, Julie Christie, Michael Caine, Yul Brynner, Hendrix, John & Yoko, Sharon Tate and many other famous people of that era.

Donyale had roles in Michelangelo Antonionis Blowup (1966), Who are you Polly Maggoo? (1966) and also appeared in The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus (1968) as the assistant of a circus performer's fire-eater act.

Donyale died, at 33, in Italy, from a heroin overdose.

All winners of Project Runway, Making the Cut, Next in Fashion but one

Jack Mackenroth. Forgotten, but not gone.

Mainbocher

They've been noted above, but Perry Ellis and Will Smith were so high-profile in the 80s and now they're completely forgotten (though I think Perry Ellis lives on as some down-market clothing brand).

Fabrice.

John Bartlett.

Rudolph Moshammer - German designer probably better known in Europe. His brand value plummeted after he was murdered by an Iranian rentboy.

I never forgot any of them. Not a single one.

Jean Desses

Patrick Kelly (there’s a retrospective of his work at the DeYoung right now but still mostly forgotten)

Scaasi

Zac Posen designed Princess Huuuge's wedding reception dress.

Nino

WHET Michael Kors? He was everywhere during his time on Project Runway and then he became a recluse. I guess he made his money and disappeared.

[quote] You don't hear much about Todd Oldham anymore.

He's an interior designer now. He did Amy Sedaris' apartment.

It's the nature of fashion. In, out, hot, not.

I can't believe no one has yet mentioned DL fave of yesteryear, Marc Jacobs. In the 2000s, he was indestructible: EVERY woman owned a Marc Jacobs bag, and everyone wanted an invite to his fashion shows. He designed for 2-3 international luxury brands as well his own labels.

Nowadays he couldn't get himself arrested.

William Travilla had a private fashion label roughly forty years that is mostly forgotten. Of his film work, he's now only remembered for Marilyn, Dallas and Valley of the Dolls.

Travilla

Pauline Trigère

R110 I think Marc Jacobs just designs for "Marc Jacobs," but "Marc by Marc Jacobs" has been shuttered for quite awhile. I think his makeup brand (sold at Sephora) has also been recently discontinued. He's still around, he was on the jury for whatever the LVMH prize is for new designers last fall.

R46 There was a good documentary about Pierre Cardin that came out not too long ago.

Bill Blass —QVC — his voice used to sound much scarier like he had some throat surgery Isaac Mizrahi — sells EVERYTHING on QVC Jeanne Bice — thé awful sequined mom jeans and tops lives on after her passing ; fraus were quite shaken… her daughter now carries the torch

WHET Tracy Reese?

Liz Claiborne

Cynthia Rowley

Ivanka Trump

Gianfranco Ruffini. I had several shirts of his and they were adorable.

Don't say that to Anderson Cooper, R12.

The late Kal Ruttenstein of Bloomingdale's told me he found Claude Montana hunky in a 70s American clone way. At the end of one of his shows in Paris in the early 80s, Kal went to embrace him, and he was nothing but padding. No toned body. No muscles. Just a skinny Frenchman adopting a Village People's look.

Hey, r12...

R108

Bitch you are all sorts of late; Michael Kors is still around, worth millins and happily married.

Emanuel Ungaro

More....

Correction, Mr. Kors is worth billions....

Recent Michael Kors (the company, not man) dirt...

R28 Ridiculous list filled with some perennial legends who will never be forgotten by the cognoscenti.

Rifat Ozbek

Roberto Capucci. Buț I collect his fragrances, still.

Bradley Bayou (Bayoud), perhaps, r47? Though to me he looked more like a linebacker than a model. Dallas socialite married to Twinkle, when they divorced, he began designing. Independent at first then hired by the Halston organization after H's death. Also now working in interiors.

Carolyne Roehm

I loved Carolyne Pushy Pushy Roehm Kravis nee Jane Smith. It only for her modesty and tasteful understatement.

And the preppy Clovis Ruffin.

R126 I can't hear the name "Ungaro" without thinking about Lindsay Lohan!! Mess. I can't believe this happened.

Time flies! 12 years ago!?

R138 It feels like yesterday!

Wow she is SO high and she was in way over her head. But I can see why they booked her, just for the publicity. What a rat fuck.

Evan Picone, Etienne Aigner, and whatever bitch designed Earth Shoes.

Claude Montana has AWFUL plastic surgery. Like Wildenstein bad.

When I think of Ungaro, r137, I think of...

[quote] "She wasn't a gay man, [R4], she doesn't count."

If you'd like to start a similar thread regarding gay male fashion designers, go for it. Because that isn't the sole subject of this one.

Lilo was so high that day!

Maison Margiela is not forgotten, they have stores all over the world. Perhaps Martin Margiela seems forgotten because he went out of his way to keep the lowest profile possible.

it's true, you don't hear a lot about the Antwerp Six but I'm sure they're still studied. And Dries is a going concern at least.

Rae Smith

Pauline Trigère

Lillie Rubin

Lilly Daché

Stefano Pilati, he designed for YSL before Hedi Slimane replaced him. Haven't heard about him in about a decade.

Perry Ellis is kind of dead. Dsquared2.

So many AIDS deaths in this thread.

Lilli Ann

Randolph Duke

Escada

Marc Bouwer

Helmut Lang

Chester Weinberg, a name few remember which is a pity because more really should.

Halston already has been mentioned, but deserves a bit more.....

Frederick

[quote] Nowadays he couldn't get himself arrested.

Marc Jacobs is still making a fortune off of his perfumes, though. They are still enormously popular with Millennial women in particular.

Montana perfumes still sell well, though I have no idea if Claude Montana still gets any of the profits from them.

Willi Smith revolutionized fashion industry, a black gay designer who was first out with what has become known now as "streetwear".

His death also caused another revolution in fashion industry; forced people to wake up and start talking about and dealing with the disease that was then quietly but ever so efficiently decimating fashion community.

Like acting and other performing arts the fashion community was full of gays. However at that time few if any major designers came out as such, they remained in the closet for a host of reasons.

First and foremost of course was that fashion requires financial resources (backers), and many executives, bankers or others with money didn't want always to back gay men. Once HIV/AIDS hit things got even worse. Backers were afraid of (gay) designers having the disease, dying and then what became of their bussiness/house?

Marc Jacobs Daisy perfume is hugely popular

He also has a makeup line at Sephora that I think does pretty well

What we lost...

Lilly Pulitzer

Edith Head

Adrian

Pat Perkins

Valles

Bill Robinson

Marc Jacobs is making bank from Daisy fragrance line.

Isaac Mizrahi used to be BIG!

Charles James was very influential.

R164 Not to be THAT person, but technically... Edith Head, Adrian, Valles weren't fashion designers, but costume designers. I don't think Edith Head an Adrian are forgotten amongst film fans, their main audience.

1980s Canadian fashion designers Alfred Sung and Linda Lundstrom. I remember how coveted a Linda Lundstrom LaParka was. When my nephew was little he walked up to a woman and said "Is that a real Linda Lundstrom? My mother has one." He grew up to be straight, btw.

R167, thanks for mentioning Charles James again. America's forgotten fashion genius. See r42.

Deservedly forgotten, but Robert Merloz, some twink Pierre Bergé hired to eventually replace Yves Saint Laurent (who was a complete mess at the time, of course) in the early 1990s. IIRC Bergé funded two or three seasons of dismal collections from Merloz. I remember they got scathing reviews from fashion journalists. You can see a bit of Merloz and the collection in this YSL documentary.

R27 I see your "Night of 100 Stars Fashion Show" and raise you "Oscars de la Mode 1986." Obviously classier than the "Night of 100 Stars," but still gay as hell featuring: Audrey Hepburn, Catherine Deneuve, Anouk Aimee, Paloma Picasso, Yves Saint Laurent, Hubert de Givenchy, Emanuel Ungaro, André Courrèges, Pierre Cardin, Valentino, Karl Lagerfeld, Jacques de Bascher...

Chester Weinberg's partner wasn't bad looking either.

Again more should know about Chester Weinberg, but fashion industry has largely clubbed together to basically erase his name and memory from history.

His former employer and close friend Calvin Klein however has remained true.

Bonnie Cashin's "Neo-Grec" gown for Gene Tierney in LAURA is timeless and could be worn today.

Speaking of fashion shows...

Fashion is just like the music business--you can get big overnight and then fall out of fashion just as quickly. As with music, only a few are able to navigate changing tastes and remain popular over time.

A few German designers lost the international attention, like Wolfgang Joop (now releasing commercial lines in German discount store chains like ALDI and LIDL) and plastic surgery car crash Harald Gloeckner (who paraded Gina Lollobrigida around like she's a prized possession). Gloeckner was in a recent German version of I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here.

Adrienne Vittadini

Robert Piguet

Valentina

Roberto Cappucci

All famous international fashion designers from the post-war years who are all but forgotten now.

I thought you were joking. R178. I don't know what I thought that because of course most come down from the high.

Piguet gave us the classics Fracas and Bandit. Still going strong among the iconic parfums in history. He wasn't a fabulous dressmaker - competent, but he mentored brilliant young minds. Dior and Givenchy

Find a bottle of vintage Capucci you're in for a treat. I'm tempted to buy this one.

R177 The ephemeral nature of fashion is what makes forgotten fashion designers so interesting (same with forgotten musical acts)!! One day they're everywhere and the next day on the sales rack. In the iconic words of Heidi Klum: "In fashion, one day you're in and the next you're out."

Roberta Di Camerino

At least the Robert Piguet perfumes are still around

Enrico Coveri

McCall’s

Butterick

"Lucile" aka Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon. Premier English fashion designer of the late 19th/early 20th centuries. With her husband, Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon, she survived the Titanic but their escape was highly controversial.

Perry Ellis had the gretest mens clothes in the 80's!

^And ONE of the greatest models.

Loved '80s Perry Ellis, r190.

Is Perry Ellis still designing? I like his argyle socks.

R193, Perry died. Wow, you're precious.

Julie Cooper incestuous fashions

Ann Klein

Never understood why costume designs for 1975 film "The Stepford Wives" put actresses into those awful looking Laura ashley/Gunne Sax inspired outfits. Is that really what men found attractive in 1970's?

IRFĒ - remember us?

Rudi Gernreich

Chester Weinberg back in the 70s was known to friends as "Chita".

Chinchita was a famous spiritual surgeon from South America

Somebody posted why the director went that direction in another thread some time ago, r197.

R133- Is this possible in your late 50's without steroids?

Yvonne Goolagong.

Jacyln Smith

André Courrèges

Joan Rivers

Banana Republic

For fuck's sake. You people are ignorant. André Courrèges is not forgotten. Sheesh! Forgotten where and by whom?

Norell

Hattie Carnegie

R105 Arnold Scaasi (né Isaacs) designed the contemporary wardrobe for "On A Clear Day" as well as Barbra's infamous 1969 Academy Awards outfit.

[quote][R28] Ridiculous list filled with some perennial legends who will never be forgotten by the cognoscenti.

My list is not "ridiculous". Of course everyone on that list is legendary and fashion people would know who they are. Many fashion legends have been forgotten because most young people who claim to be into 'fashion' have no idea who the original designers were for many famous fashion houses,

The point is, most young people are clueless about the original types of designs from many fashion houses which are still producing clothes and accessories. My sister wears original Bonnie Cashin coats, she has a large collection, over the years she was lucky to find Cashin coats and bags in thrift shops and on eBay, when Cashin's designs weren't so desirable. She scored one amazing coat for only $20! Many young women stop to ask where she got her coats.

Can you compare the elegant past Balenciaga designs by Cristóbal Balenciaga with the ugly fright costumes now being designed by the current Balenciaga designers? Of course not, there is no comparison.

Look at this atrocity, Cristóbal Balenciaga must be doing flip-flops in his grave! This 'shoe' looks like part of a costume for a Sci-Fi film.

Clovis Ruffin was the late blond designer whose name I couldn't remember.

One of my work colleagues had this sketch of Clovis up in our art department. I also remember Clovis used this same sketch to promote some of his designs.

Isabel Toledo. A friend knew her from FIT. Always had nice things to say about her.

Isabel designed the yellow, wool, and lace shift dress with matching overcoat, which First Lady Michelle Obama selected to wear at the first inauguration of Barack Obama.

Toledo died from breast cancer at a hospital in Manhattan on August 26, 2019.

Ted Lapidus.

Stella McCarthy is still around but never quite managed to live up to the hype that surrounded her in the early 2000s.

My sister loved Albert Nipon.

Z Cavaricci

Madeleine Vionnet

Ah yes, r220..."the architect".

Mary Quant

R217 It seems like we only hear about her when she designs Olympic uniforms for Team GB.

James Galanos

R170 thank you for pointing out your Charles James post. Vastly superior examples of his work.

Clap Trap

the Butterfly dress

Sergio Valente. This commercial is kind of erotic. Available at Judy's!

Etienne Aigner Diane von Fürstenberg

Flavia...

Hattie Carnegie!

[quote]Etienne Aigner Diane von Fürstenberg

Diane von Fürstenberg's first name is Stephen?

According to Wikipedia, Diane von Furstenberg was born Diane Simone Michele Halfin. I have no idea where the Étienne, French for Stephen or Steven, comes from. Can someone enlighten?

R233, Etienne Aigner, has NOTHING to do with Diane von Furstenberg. The person was obviously posting two different designer names.

Etienne Aigner, was a high-end leather goods designer.

"In 1950, he introduced his Antic Red leather open-pocket bag with angular processing (Antic Red being the brand's signature color). He also perfected the Aigner logo after his monogram, the "a" for Aigner shaped into a horseshoe.In 1959, Aigner opened his first showroom in Manhattan, New York City. During the 1980s Aigner stretched its product range by awarding licences for watches, jewelery and eyewear. In 1990 licences were awarded for the womenswear and menswear collection. In 2000, Etienne Aigner died in New York at the age of 95."

The brand Etienne Aigner is still producing leather accessories.

Sigrid Olsen

[quote]Etienne Aigner Diane von Fürstenberg

R229, you have to put two hard returns, ie, two hits to the Enter Key, to start a new paragraph or a new line that doesn't run on with the previous text,

Etienne Aigner

Diane von Fürstenberg

Izod

While she is apparently still a character in the UK, I don't think anyone in the US has thought of Zandra Rhodes since the 80's.

Only gay men under the age of 60 are unaware of Izod/Lacoste or the alligator.

Joan Vass

Zandra Rhodes

Frederick's Of Hollyvood

r241 see r238

R243 My little homosexual boy hasn't brought me my coffee yet.

Why, Georgina Chapman, of course!

[quote]While she is apparently still a character in the UK, I don't think anyone in the US has thought of Zandra Rhodes since the 80's.

Zandra has been hired by the American clothing pattern company McCall's. Over the past few years, McCall's bought Simplicity patterns, over 20 years ago they purchased Vogue-Butterick patterns.

McCall's is now essentially a monopoly, they were recent acquired by a British company. Apparently, people are still sewing, who knew.

Fath '53

Jacques Doucet

His career lasted from the 1870's to the 1920's.

Most embarrassing display of ignorance -- and non respect of the nominating criteria -- in a long time on DL. Congratulations, retired cube gays of Flyoverstan, you're a laugh riot.

R249 cube gays?

Forgive if he's been discussed in more detail, I stopped scrolling around post 100. I had never heard of John Bartlett before... nice clothes! Nothing revolutionary, but he (and his team?) knew how to design for me. Yea, the clothes veered into costume in 1995, but he definitely had an aesthetic and a style. I liked a lot of what saw through a google search.

The last NYTimes piece I found about him was 10 years old, so I guess he really has dropped out of clothes and now focused on animal rescue.

Bonus points, he was a good looking man...

R249 Are you French and permanently living in 1966? Because most people here in the US do not know who André Courrèges was. I live in Los Angeles and there is no Courrèges boutique on Melrose Place next to Oscar de la Renta or Marni or The Row. There isn't one on Rodeo Drive by Balenciaga or Lanvin or Carolina Herrera. No one here knows André, let alone Coqueline. The last time he made a splash here was in 1967.

Sandra Bernhard did a section in "Without I'm Nothing" where she reimagines herself as a Mary Richards style secretary who uses a bunch of brands that would have been popular circa 1970, but were long since passé when she did her act, and pointedly mentions Courrèges. That was filmed in 1989.

Daniel Hechter

Dale Cavahnaugh

Karl Lagerfeld for Chloe

Ceil Chapman

Norman Hartnell

r254, I've seen that before. Thanks for posting it. I love when Billy Bigelow from Carousel makes his entrance at 1:13.

Giorgio di Sant’Angelo

R252 I suppose the issue is the criteria "forgotten" is so vague. Forgotten by idiots living in LA? Ok then. Forgotten by anyone who knows a smidgeon of fashion history? Pulease.

So let's also say Stendhal is a forgotten novelist. And Delacroix a forgotten painter. Since twats on the street in LA never heard of them.

What's the point of anything?

Courrèges as a brand still exists but I wonder who in the world buys it. There a 2 boutiques in Paris and that's it.

Nicolas Di Felice, mentored by Nicolas Ghesquière, is fashion director of Courrèges. Which now shows menswear. Courrèges is usually in the Haute Couture each season. NOW. THESE YEARS.

[quote]Courrèges is usually in the Haute Couture each season.

No it is not. You don't know what you are talking about.

No? Oh well sorry. I thought they were like Schiaparelli trying to relaunch Haute Couture and failing. My bad.

Still Courrèges is hardly a "forgotten" designer, but it all depends on the public we are talking about.

They are trying to relaunch it. It was indeed a dying brand.

Henry Grethel

I have a bottle of Empreinte. I wear it a couple times a year. Nice chypre on a guy.

John Bates of Jean Varon

He is best known for doing Diana Rigg's wardrobe for The Avengers.

And what an iconic look it was, r268...

Who could forget...Madge Chard?

Mariuccia Mandelli of Krizia

Didn't Rigg wear a ton of Pierre Cardin (before the licensing) on The Avengers?

I don't think the black catsuit was Cardin but most of her other wardrobe was.

Who can spot the John Bates of Jean Varon in this Diana Rigg compilation? She did have some fabulous looks as Emma Peel.

Never heard of the guy in the OP but I'm guessing he was just a Michael McKean character.

Nudie Cohn

Georgia Bullock

Karl Lagerfeld.

Ron Chereskin

Bob Mackie

Willi Smith

Bob Mackie will never be forgotten...unless Cher is.

Ann Lowe

The first African American couturier. She designed Jackie Kennedy's wedding dress, as well as gowns for many of the families on the Social Register.

Badgley Mischka

Maggy Rouff

[quote]Bob Mackie will never be forgotten...unless Cher is.

That's true. Mackie is certainly not forgotten but his first lover/partner Ray Aghayan is somewhat. Aghayan designed for Cher before Mackie did.

How do you guys know if all the people? A lot of them I’ve never heard of before and wish I had.

Aghayan and Mackie were together nearly 50 years before Aghayan's death in 2011. Aghayan was an established designer by the 1960s and Mackie began his career as Aghayan's assistant.

Aghayan designed Judy's clothes for her TV series, Diana Ross's for Lady Sings the Blues and Streisand's for Funny Lady and he dressed Lauren Bacall in Applause.

[quote]How do you guys know if all the people?

We're old. Once in a while it has its advantages.

[quote]We're old. Once in a while it has its advantages

Yes it does, r286...

[quote]How do you guys know if all the people? A lot of them I’ve never heard of before and wish I had.

I've worked in fashion advertising for years. I actually read up on many fashion designers while at school. My mom sewed her own clothes, there were always fashion mags in our home.

My fave period for fashion is the 1960s.

R285 Blame it on Jeanne Becker and Elsa Klensch (RIP) for me.

And then there are the fashion illustrators. Does anyone remember Antonio Lopez? I went to his gym in the East 50s and was in love with him and also saw him in The Pines but never said a word to him. It was like something out of an Andrew Holleran novel.

This thread was made for Ossie Clark, RIP. Killed by his boyfriend/(trade?)

[quote]And then there are the fashion illustrators. Does anyone remember Antonio Lopez? I went to his gym in the East 50s and was in love with him and also saw him in The Pines but never said a word to him. It was like something out of an Andrew Holleran novel.

Of course! Antonio, his illustration style was very unique and the various artists who illustrated for Lord & Taylor, they were all quite good. I forgot their names. IIRC, Dorothy Hood was one of them. Most of the fashion illustrators I hired when I became an AD at a fashion company tried to emulate their styles.

Roberto Cavalli - even had designer vodka (which was good)- WHET?

Issey Miyake - loved the perfumes more than the fashion

Norma Kamali

Antonio Lopez fans might like the Instagram account for his archives! They post lots of great stuff.

Michaele Vollbracht, I remember seeing him on an episode of Hart to Hart. He was pretty hot.

Victor Costa! He used to sing opera too!

Jacqueline de Ribes.

She designed couture and a ready-to-wear line for high end department stores. Mostly from the 1970s and especially the 1980s.

Any relation to Mary Costa, r297?

[quote]Michaele Vollbracht, I remember seeing him on an episode of Hart to Hart. He was pretty hot.

Thought Vollbracht was a fashion illustrator? Not a designer. I remember he designed some Bloomingdale's shopping bags.

Does anyone else remember an underground club hit from 1992 that referenced Claude Montana? It was some queen throwing shade (a la a ball in Paris is Burning) like the emcee asked if that was a Montana. And the ballgoer said it was. And the emcee pressed with a “Claude Montana?” And the queen was like um, no, Barry Montana or something.

Another verse had DKNY? No DKKC…

It was popular in the Crystal Room with Andy Anderson at the Roxy.

Anyone else remember? What was it? It was around the time of “I got my education”

Marc Bohan, 29 years at Dior and he's only a footnote in the life of Yves Saint Laurent now.

Jacqueline, comtesse de Ribes, introduced young me, in 1983, to a very handsome and young de La Rochefoucauld, who became my couple times a year fuck bud in the mid 80s.

Antonio Lopez had a huge Latin cock and loved to show it off. I went to that same East 50s gym back in the day. Jack LaLanne? I was secretly in love with him too. Such style. Such a big dick.

Jack LaLanne on East 55th Street, off of Madison. For awhile it was the hottest gym in New York. So many beautiful preening naked men, straight and gay. But that was many years ago. I doubt that anyone would know.

Donald Brooks, hairy and hung and wanted to introduce me to Alice Faye.