Julien Fournié

Julien Fournié is a French fashion designer and CEO of his own eponymous couture company founded in the summer of 2009. Previously, he was the last Creative Director of the Paris-based haute couture fashion house Torrente. In 2008, he was named Creative Director for womenswear, menswear and accessories at another French house, Ramosport, the Parisian brand specializing in "casual chic" for womenswear and menswear.

With a Castilian mother and a French father, fashion flows in Julien Fournié's blood.

One set of grandparents were tanners: his genetic inheritance from them was a taste for fine materials. His grandmother on the other side of the family was a lingerie seamstress and corset maker: she instilled in him the importance of always producing your best work.

Then, there was his father, an optician, from whom he learned about accessories and innovative shapes.

He started drawing at the age of three, but the artist in him was subsumed for a short time with his triumph in science, choosing to study medicine when he entered the university at 18.

But, his art won out in the end. Two years into training in medicine, (after a degree in Biology), he opted for fashion, continuing his studies at the Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale Couture Parisienne, from where he graduated in 2000.

On his graduation day, Paris Fashion 2000 awarded him with the Moet & Chandon Prize for best accessories. During those three years of study and the necessary apprenticeship that followed, he worked at several fashion houses to develop his skills.

He learned the tricks of the trade hands on from the House of Nina Ricci and at Christian Dior where he worked on accessories with Jean Mouclier; and at Givenchy, working alongside Christina Zeller, he helped develop a haute couture collection of bags, jeweller and accessories.

He was a starting a spell at Céline when Jean-Paul Gaultier hired him as an assistant stylist in Haute Couture where he was entrusted with researching materials and designing embroidery trims for the Autumn/Winter 2001/2002 collection. He also got to work on stage costumes for a Madonna tour.

At the end of 2001, he joined the Montana studio as a stylist in ready-to-wear and accessories. There, he developed a collection of bags, scarves, luggage and jewellery.

In late Summer 2003, at the age of 28, he was recruited by Torrente as Style Director for their ready-to-wear collections.

In early September, before his first show for the Champ-Elysees-based fashion house had even taken place, the Management Committee voted to appoint him as Artistic Director.

He has since taken over the duties of Madame Torrente-Mett! After advising several ready-to-wear brands in Asia, and particularly in South Korea, as well as in the fields of accessories in France (Charles Jourdan), he was appointed in early 2008 Creative Director at another French house, Ramosport, the Parisian brand, specializing in "casual chic" for womenswear and menswear. When Ramosport was bought as a company by the Groupe Georges Rech in September 2008, its chief designer then decided it was time to create his own brand, bearing his own name.

Julien Fournié has been developing since then a "new couture" for international customers, aiming to redefine the roots of luxury fashion in a pertinent interpretation for today.

As an illustrator, Julien Fournié has taken part in several projects. An American fashion website asked him to cover the Olympus Fashion Week for Spring 2006 in New York. He illustrated each runway show that he attended for the website. Bigger formats also appeal to him and he gets to paint on canvas. A series of nine paintings entitled "Women with Weapons" is being realized now.