About

Sophie Albou (born 1967) is a Paris-born designer best known as the founder of the Paul & Joe clothing line. Albou was born in 1967 just a few years after her mother had emigrated to France from Tunisia. Albou's father, Yvan, was also of North African heritage, and she and her older brother, Serge, grew up in Paris.

Albou's parents launched a shirtmaking company called Julien in 1976, and it was thriving by the time the family vacationed in New York City in 1982. There, Albou's mother, Nicole, was struck by the use of a French word, "garage," because in France such public-parking structures were called "parkings." Inspired by the arty New York new-wave scene, Nicole began designing a new line of shirts for an offshoot label they dubbed Le Garage, and its sales soon eclipsed that of Julien. Albou was soon assisting her mother in the design atelier as the venture took off, and the family opened the first of several Le Garage boutiques in Paris in 1987.

Albou was educated at the Sorbonne and the Institut Français de la Mode before going to work for the clothing company Azzedine Alaia in 1983.

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Who Wears It

Sophie Marceau,

Perfumes

2003 Blanc (W)
2003 Bleu (W)
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