Castelbajac (de), Jean-Charles
Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, the Courrèges of the ’70s
Jean-Charles de Castelbajac is a French fashion designer born in Casablanca, Morocco. He moved to France in 1955, and in 1968 he created his first prêt-à-porter line for the Ko and Co of Limoges, a company owned by his mother. The following year, he designed for Pierre D’Alby‘s V. de V. In 1970 he presented his own first collection: he recycled old fabrics, among which was his old school uniform. Emblematic of his style in that decade are his pieces inspired by leisure such as the poncho for two.
Eclectic and sensitive to changes in costume, especially from a social point of view, and modernist, he anticipated fashion trends and was defined “the Courrèges of the ’70s.” His favorite and continuously revisited themes are sports, natural materials, art, and certain characters from the comics. He designed costumes for the cinema (Woody Allen’s Annie Hall) and the theater, worked with various contemporary artists for the creation of artists’ costumes, and was the first designer invited to present his models in an exhibition.
During the 1980s, his creativity expanded to include interior design, from furniture to carpets, from lamps to hand-painted porcelain dishes. In 1993 he designed two Swatch watches; in 1997 he created a line of clothes for Pope John Paul II and various ecclesiastic dignitaries. In Italy, he worked with the MaxMara Group on the Sportmax line and, later, on Iceberg. In December 2002 the designer makes his début in ski fashion, signing an agreement with Rossignol for a new skiwear collection designed by both firms.
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