Max Azria
Encyclopedia
Max Azria is a French
fashion designer of Tunisian Jewish descent who founded the contemporary women's clothing brand BCBGMAXAZRIA. Azria is also the designer, chairman and CEO of BCBGMAXAZRIAGROUP, a global fashion house that encompasses over 20 brands. He is based in Los Angeles.
, Tunisia
, as the youngest of 6 children. As a child, Max was educated in southeastern France before his family relocated to Paris, France, in 1963.
phrase "bon chic, bon genre," a Parisian slang meaning "good style, good attitude". Azria was credited for offering designer fashion at affordable price points and, as a result, was inducted into the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) in 1998. The BCBGMAXAZRIA Runway collection was first presented at New York Fashion Week in 1996.
Azria also maintains two eponymous designer collections, Max Azria Atelier and Max Azria. Launched in February 2004, Max Azria Atelier is a collection of couture gowns created for celebrity clients and red-carpet events. Sharon Stone
, Halle Berry
, Fergie and Alicia Keys
have worn the label on the red carpet. In February 2006, Azria debuted Max Azria, a ready-to-wear collection with a directional aesthetic, on the runway at New York Fashion Week. During the 2009 awards season, Angelina Jolie
wore Max Azria to the 2009 Screen Actors Guild Awards and the 2009 Critics Choice Awards.
Azria acquired the Hervé Léger fashion house in 1998, marking the first time in history that an American designer had acquired a French couturier. In early 2007, Azria relaunched the Hervé Léger label with his own designs, which were quickly embraced by celebrities and trendsetters worldwide. Beyoncé Knowles
, Jennifer Lopez
, Catherine Zeta-Jones
and Kate Winslet
are among the celebrities who have worn the label for red carpet events.
In Fall 2008, Max Azria presented BCBGMAXAZRIA Runway, Max Azria and Hervé Léger by Max Azria at New York Fashion Week, marking the first time an American designer produced three major fashion shows during one New York Fashion Week.
Azria launched a young contemporary collection called BCBGeneration in 2008. In June 2009, Azria teamed up with Miley Cyrus
to create a line for Walmart called Miley Cyrus & Max Azria. Azria also designed clothing for Cyrus' 2009 American tour.
There are currently over 550 BCBGMAXAZRIA boutiques worldwide, including locations in London, Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Azria’s collections are also sold in specialty stores and major department stores across the globe, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Lord & Taylor, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, the UK’s Harvey Nichols, Hong Kong’s Lane Crawford, Taiwan’s Mitsukoshi and Singapore’s Takashimaya stores.
BCBGMAXAZRIAGROUP campaigns regularly feature notable models, including Eva Herzigova
, Karen Elson
and Jessica Stam
. The company frequently works with internationally renowned photographers such as Patrick Demarchelier
, Paolo Roversi
and David Sims. BCBGMAXAZRIAGROUP clothing are frequently featured in major fashion publications such as Vogue
, InStyle and Vanity Fair
.
As well as online sites such as Style.com
and iFashion Network
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
fashion designer of Tunisian Jewish descent who founded the contemporary women's clothing brand BCBGMAXAZRIA. Azria is also the designer, chairman and CEO of BCBGMAXAZRIAGROUP, a global fashion house that encompasses over 20 brands. He is based in Los Angeles.
Background
Max Azria was born in SfaxSfax
Sfax is a city in Tunisia, located southeast of Tunis. The city, founded in AD 849 on the ruins of Taparura and Thaenae, is the capital of the Sfax Governorate , and a Mediterranean port. Sfax has population of 340,000...
, Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
, as the youngest of 6 children. As a child, Max was educated in southeastern France before his family relocated to Paris, France, in 1963.
Career
After 11 years of designing a line of women's apparel in Paris, Azria moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1981 and launched Jess, a series of new-concept retail boutiques for women's apparel.BCBGMAXAZRIA
In 1989, Azria launched BCBGMAXAZRIA, named for the FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
phrase "bon chic, bon genre," a Parisian slang meaning "good style, good attitude". Azria was credited for offering designer fashion at affordable price points and, as a result, was inducted into the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) in 1998. The BCBGMAXAZRIA Runway collection was first presented at New York Fashion Week in 1996.
Azria also maintains two eponymous designer collections, Max Azria Atelier and Max Azria. Launched in February 2004, Max Azria Atelier is a collection of couture gowns created for celebrity clients and red-carpet events. Sharon Stone
Sharon Stone
Sharon Vonne Stone is an American actress, film producer, and former fashion model. She achieved international recognition for her role in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct...
, Halle Berry
Halle Berry
Halle Berry is an American actress and a former fashion model. Berry received an Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, and an NAACP Image Award for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and won an Academy Award for Best Actress and was nominated for a BAFTA Award in 2001 for her performance in Monster's Ball, becoming...
, Fergie and Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...
have worn the label on the red carpet. In February 2006, Azria debuted Max Azria, a ready-to-wear collection with a directional aesthetic, on the runway at New York Fashion Week. During the 2009 awards season, Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the...
wore Max Azria to the 2009 Screen Actors Guild Awards and the 2009 Critics Choice Awards.
Azria acquired the Hervé Léger fashion house in 1998, marking the first time in history that an American designer had acquired a French couturier. In early 2007, Azria relaunched the Hervé Léger label with his own designs, which were quickly embraced by celebrities and trendsetters worldwide. Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles , often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child...
, Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
, Catherine Zeta-Jones
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Catherine Zeta-Jones, CBE, is a British actress. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of United Kingdom and United States television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as the 1998 action film The Mask of...
and Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet
Kate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. She has received multiple awards and nominations. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader...
are among the celebrities who have worn the label for red carpet events.
In Fall 2008, Max Azria presented BCBGMAXAZRIA Runway, Max Azria and Hervé Léger by Max Azria at New York Fashion Week, marking the first time an American designer produced three major fashion shows during one New York Fashion Week.
Azria launched a young contemporary collection called BCBGeneration in 2008. In June 2009, Azria teamed up with Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus
Miley Ray Cyrus is an American actress and pop singer-songwriter. She achieved wide fame for her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana....
to create a line for Walmart called Miley Cyrus & Max Azria. Azria also designed clothing for Cyrus' 2009 American tour.
Company
BCBGMAXAZRIAGROUP is a global fashion house with a portfolio including more than 20 brands. Max Azria is the CEO, chairman and head designer alongside his wife, Lubov Azria, who acts as chief creative officer.There are currently over 550 BCBGMAXAZRIA boutiques worldwide, including locations in London, Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Azria’s collections are also sold in specialty stores and major department stores across the globe, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Lord & Taylor, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, the UK’s Harvey Nichols, Hong Kong’s Lane Crawford, Taiwan’s Mitsukoshi and Singapore’s Takashimaya stores.
BCBGMAXAZRIAGROUP campaigns regularly feature notable models, including Eva Herzigova
Eva Herzigová
Eva Herzigová is a Czech model and actress.-Early life and career:Herzigová was born in Litvínov, Czechoslovakia . She began her modeling career after winning a modeling beauty contest in Prague in 1989, at the age of sixteen. After arriving in Paris, her popularity increased...
, Karen Elson
Karen Elson
Karen Elson is a British model, singer-songwriter and guitarist.As a child, Elson attended North Chadderton School in Chadderton with her twin sister, filmmaker Kate Elson. She began working as a model as a teenager....
and Jessica Stam
Jessica Stam
Jessica Stam is a Canadian model. She is considered to be part of the crop of models described as "doll faces" alongside Gemma Ward, Sasha Pivovarova, Vlada Roslyakova, Lily Cole, Caroline Trentini, Devon Aoki, and Heather Marks...
. The company frequently works with internationally renowned photographers such as Patrick Demarchelier
Patrick Demarchelier
Patrick Demarchelier is a French fashion photographer.-Life:Born near Paris in 1943 to a modest family, he spent his childhood in Le Havre with his mother and four brothers. For his seventeenth birthday, his stepfather bought him his first Eastman Kodak camera...
, Paolo Roversi
Paolo Roversi
Paolo Roversi is an Italian-born fashion photographer who currently lives and works in Paris.Born in Ravenna in 1947, Paolo Roversi’s interest in photography was kindled as a teenager during a family vacation in Spain in 1964...
and David Sims. BCBGMAXAZRIAGROUP clothing are frequently featured in major fashion publications such as Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
, InStyle and Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
.
As well as online sites such as Style.com
Style.com
Style.com is a fashion website. It was formerly the online site for the fashion magazine Vogue and [W] W magazine featuring online versions of some of the magazine's content as well as internet-exclusive material such as event photographs and style-related articles, before Vogue developed its own...
and iFashion Network