Who are the head designers of French fashion houses?

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Chanel

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Karl Lagerfeld (Karl Otto Lagerfeld) (79) is a German fashion designer and photographer. He started his career as a fashion designer at the age of 14 with Pierre Balmain, and continued with Chloé. In 1983 he was appointed Artistic Director for Chanel Fashion, and at the same time designer of all Haute Couture, Ready-to-Wear and Accessory collections. In addition to Chanel, since 1972 he has been collaborating with Italian fashion house Fendi.      

Balmain

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Olivier Rousteing (26) is a French fashion designer -  started  his career as a designer at Roberto Cavalli. He was then quickly promoted to the head of the Italian label’s women’s ready-to-wear collection, where he served five years as creative director. In 2009, Olivier Rousteing was hired by Balmain, a label creating an ultra-feminine rock and roll silhouette - as a designer for the brand’s women’s ready-to-wear. In 2011 Olivier Rousteing replaced Christophe Decarnin as the creative director for Balmain, gaining full control of the production of both the men’s and women’s read-to-wear lines.

 Givenchy

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   Riccardo Tisci (39) is an Italian fashion designer. He went on to consult for sports giant Puma before moving on his own collection. In 2005 he was announced as Creative Director for Givenchy womenswear and Houte Couture. In 2008 he was also asked to head the men’s division. Moreover, in 2011 he was considered to be John Galliano’s successor as head designer of Christian Dior. 

Christian Dior

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Raf Simons (45) was born in Belgium in 1968 and, aside from his sub-culturally-inspired and independent aesthetic, is a designer best-known for his dramatic career change - from the world of industrial and furniture design to the world of menswear. Simons launched his label in 1995 and, ten years later, in 2005 was appointed creative director of Jil Sander .  Since April 2012 Raf Simons is the creative head of Christian Dior fashion label

                   

         Lanvin

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Alber Elbaz (52) is a Moroccan-born Israeli fashion designer. He started his career as a designer for ready-to-wear woman’s clothing for Yves Saint Laurent. After Saint Laurent’s retirement Alber became the head designer of the house. He has also gained great recognition, working for Krizia in Italy. Since 2001 Elbaz has worked for the Paris fashion house Lanvin. Moreover, he was announced as one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World, 2007.

   Yves Saint Laurent

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In 2002 Saint-Laurent closed the couture house of  YSL. However, the brand still exists due to its parent company Gucci Group. Today the head designer is Hedi Slimane (45) who has been working on YSL brand since last year. However since leaving Dior, where he worked over 10 years, he has worked as a photographer, famously documenting British rock star Pete Doherty and the Berlin club scene. He was also the man who prompted Karl Lagerfeld to lose almost 90 lbs in weight in order that the Chanel designer could buy his clothes. 

Chloé 

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British-born Clare Waight Keller (41) started her career by working on womenswear at Calvin Klein This was followed by a role at Ralph Lauren, which saw her working as the senior designer of Purple Label Menswear.  In 2000 she was hired by Tom Ford at Gucci to work  as a senior designer. This was followed by her role as creative director of Pringle of Scotland in 2005. In March 2011, she resigned as creative director  of Pringle of Scotland and already in May 2011, she was named the creative director of Chloé fashion label.

    Sonya Rykiel

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Sonia Rykiel(83), a Russian-Rumanian born in France, and Canadian –born Geraldo Da Conceicao are the head designers for the Sonia Rykiel fashion house. Sonia Rykiel has tapped Geraldo da Conceicao, a senior designer who has worked at Miu Miu, Yves Saint Laurent, and most recently, Louis Vuitton as their women's design director. His first collection will be presented during the Fall-Winter season in March 2013. 

Pierre Cardin 

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Pierre Cardin(90) , born in Venice, Italy, is a French designer of clothes for women and also a pioneer in the design of high fashion for men.  At 17 he went to Vichy, Fr., to become a tailor at a men’s shop. After World War II he also worked at the couture house of Christian Dior. In 1950 he opened a shop of his own and gradually gained a solid reputation as a men’s suit maker. In the mid-1960s his stark, short tunics and his use of vinyl, helmets, and goggles helped launch the so-called Space Age look. . However, he has announced that he wants to sell the House for 1 bn euros.

Louis Vuitton 

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Marc Jacobs (50) is the American fashion designer who was named the creative director of Louis Vuitton in January 1997, where he was tasked with the creation of the house's first ready-to-wear clothing line. At the same time, LVMH also bought a stake in Jacobs' own label. In the spring of 2001, Jacobs introduced his secondary line, Marc by Marc Jacobs. Over 10 years he could increase the company’s profit and place the company in  a great position in the fashion world. 

                                 

                       

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