The History of Guy Laroche
11 February 2021
An insight into the history of Guy Laroche the eponymous company and French High Fashion Brand, and the man behind it all; Founder and Director Monsieur Laroche
Guy Laroche was born 16 July 1921 in La Rochelle, and died in 17 February 1989
Originally begininng designing and manufacturing womens headwear, Laroche later moved on to high fashion womenswear and opened up his first workshop at 37 Avenue Franklin Roosevelt, Paris
Laroche founded his couture label in 1957 with the vision of a comfortable, understated elegance for women that is both “refined and discreet”
In 1961 he moved to a townhouse at 29 avenue Montaigne, Paris, opened his boutique there, and introduced his first ready-to-wear collection.
In his first collection, Laroche reintroduced vibrant colors. His clothes also featured plunging neck and back lines with hues of pink, orange, coral, topaz, and turquoise throughout his designs
His creations, including the coat-dress and the shirt-dress, continue to be staple pieces in women’s wardrobes today
Laroche was one of the first designers to create seperates for the American market. Some of his designs included three peice suits. His creations often featured exact matching up of patterns running across seams, pockets and sleeves, showing the quality and attention to detail in his haute couture designs
In 1966, Laroche launced his first women's fragrance, entitled Fidji. In the same year he designed men's ready-to-wear and opened up his boutuque: Guy Laroche Monsieur
Laroche created a number of other womens fragrances, including Drakkar 1972, J'ai Osé 1977, Drakkar Noir 1982, Clandestine 1986, Horizon 1993 and Drakkar Dynamik 1999
In 2005, Hilary Swank won an oscar for Best Actress whilst wearing a Guy Laroche dress, which at the time was designed by Herve Leger Leroux
In 2017 Richard René was appointed the position of Creative Director. René previously worked for brands including Hermès and Jean Paul Gaultier
Another of the creative directors after Laroche's passing was Adam Andrascik; a Pittsburgh-born, London-based designer who graduated from New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology in 2006 and obtained a masters in fashion design in 2010 at London’s Central Saint Martins under the course director Louise Janet Wilson OBE
Andrascik previously freelanced for a number of labels including Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Jonathan Saunders, Proenza Schouler and Richard Nicoll whilst building his signature style that is described as sexy, elegant, sculptural and somber
Our Company Director, Nicola, showcases her current designer handbag collection
Social media has seen a rise in more affordable luxury pieces being transformed and worn in different ways, such as the Louis Vuitton Toiletry Bag being worn as a clutch, or converted into a bag by purchasing an ever-more popular 'transformation kit'. These kits are readily available in places such as Amazon, and they comprise of an inner organiser with eyelets on either end which is slipped inside the bag. A chain is then added, making it possible for the piece to be worn as a shoulder or cross body bag. Recently Louis Vuitton discontinued their infamous Toiletry Bag, however they now have available the item below, which the call the Pouch Voyage in Damier Graphite and measures 27 x 21 x 6cm. The LV Toiletry Bag measured 25 x 20 x 5.5 cm ... however this newer piece retails for £665!! (price correct as of June 2021)
May 5th 1921 marks the launch of the very first Chanel perfume; No.5. The perfume was created through the partnership between Gabrielle Chanel and perfumer Ernest Beaux. The scent was described as a "women’s perfume which smells like a woman."
So what do we know about the microchips so far? Louis Vuitton began phasing out date codes and introducing microchips in March 2021. Microchips can only be read by a specific app that only Louis Vuitton sales associates (SA's) have access to ... meaning that you cannot read the chip yourself. We also know that you cannot just go into a store and have them read the microchip of any LV piece; which leads us to believe that they are mostly going to be used to check the authenticity of items that are being returned or being sent in for repair. What information do the microchips store? Well, as they are such a new concept, and LVMH are being extremely secretive about them, there isn't a huge amount of information that we can get hold of just yet. However, based on what we know so far, the information they will likely keep is: Date and Place of Manufacture Date and Place of Purchase Product Style Code Who the item was sold to (customer information) Description of the Item
An insight into the history of the iconic and world famous Louis Vuitton Speedy bag, how it rose to fame in 1965 and the different variations created along it's journey from 1896 to present day
Why do fashion houses increase their prices so often and by so much, and are consumers tired of it? Plus, are consumers fed up of resellers selling sought after pieces for more than RRP, or are the consumers actually to blame?
