founded by
Andre Courreges
belongs to
Itokin
about
In 1961 Andre Courreges opened his own house, „Maison de Courreges“ at 48 ave Kleber in. From here he began his leap into the future, taking his "ascetic scissors" and turning out clothes that were magical in their simplicity.
In 1965 Courreges reorganized his company, and briefly before he changed his salon, banned the press from his collections (as Balenciaga had also done). When he re-opened, he had a carefully planned 3-tier structure:
„Prototypes“, his couture division „Couture future“, his de-luxe ready to wear „hyperbole“, inexpensive ready to wear.
His new premises were at 40 ave Francois premier.
1971 He introduced the Hyperbole line of sportswear for younger clients.
1973 He launched his menswear line Courreges Homme.
1979 He diversified into fine leather goods, beauty products and other related products.
1985 The Japanese group Itokin took a financial interest in the firm, although Andre Courreges is still designing his beautiful clothes.
In the mid-90's, when Andre Courreges age crossed 70 he brought in Jean Charles de Castelbajac who began designing for the house of Andre Courreges. Courreges himself still keeps an overall eye on the designs made by his house.
In his first appearance on the French couture scene, Courrèges introduced a revolutionary concept of styling: space-age clothes. This included boots, googles, and dresses three above the knee. The main features of his boxy, uncluttered look spread quickly throughout the fashion world, especially the miniskirt, which he introduced to France.
Among Courrèges‘ later creations were sweater pants, parkas, tennis dresses, beach clothes and mechanic-style coveralls. In contrast he also came out with a glow-in-the-dark yersey dress and an array of sexy swimsuits, held together only by thin strings on the sides. He favored bright acid colors and geometrical designs. He was the most copied and plagiarised dress-designer of his era. Shortyl after he showed his space-age collection in 1964, the market was flooded with plastic skirts and jackets, angular seaming, crash helmets, white boots, and googles, for a boxy silhouette.
He had his greatest time in the 60’s and 70’s when he was know for his refreshing new look.
Ossie Clark