Agnès B

Agnès B (1941). French designer. In early 1998 she won her umpteenth case against The Gap, the giant American chain, which was selling an exact copy of her favorite piece: a plush cardigan with snap fasteners and caneté trimmings which in 1999 celebrated its twentieth anniversary. Among her other favorites, much copied but thus far without any court cases, is the heavy cotton long sleeve striped T-“shirt. Agnès Troublé, under the professional name Agnès B., opened her first boutique in 1975 in the Paris neighborhood of Les Halles after working as a journalist for Elle magazine and as a designer for Dorothée Bis. Her style, characterized by a small number of practical pieces at reasonable prices, was immediately successful, leading to new stores in addition to those on the rue du Jour. These included men’s, women’s and children’s departments and recently also a space dedicated to travellers showing objects and books from all over the world. She has always combined her love for fashion with a passion for art and next to her boutiques she opened a bookshop-gallery. Since 1987 she has also designed a line of make-up and perfume.
Thanks to humanitarian events held in Sarajevo and her efforts in the struggle against AIDS, she has received much public recognition, including the Légion d’Honneur.
Her entry in the U.S. market was low-profile, targeting women between 18 and 30 with a campaign for leather goods and cosmetics. In her New York boutique, decorated with photographs and film posters created by the eclectic designer, there is a unisex department along side the men’s and women’s Collections.