Italian by heritage but born and raised in France, Emanuel Ungaro learned to sew from his father. By his mid-twenties, he was designing at the hallowed house of Balenciaga before moving on to Courrèges. In 1965, he launched his own boutique and label in Paris. Ladies flocked to him for body-skimming silhouettes, and within a few decades the line would come to encompass menswear, accessories, and several fragrances. Ungaro's frothy cocktail frocks and bold, often-mismatched florals were met with mixed reviews, as was an advertisement campaign in 1990 that had critics crying "bestiality" at images of a model being mounted by a dog. Other struggles over the four-decade history include financial takeovers, first by the Ferragamo Group in 1996 and then investment firm Global Asset Capital in 2003, as well as a revolving door of head designers after Ungaro's initial successor, Giambattista Valli. Designers Peter Dundas and Vincent Darre each lasted less than two seasons, and hopes were high for Colombian Esteban Cortazar, appointed at the tender age of 23, to reinfuse the brand with Latin sensuality to attract a whole new generation of fashionistas. But in the summer of 2009, Cortazar left Ungaro unwilling to agree to CEO Mounir Moufarrige’s idea to bring Lindsay Lohan on to the creative team. Spanish designer Estrella Archs took the reigns with Lohan acting as artistic advisor, showing a Spring 2010 collection of nipple pasties and heart motifs that was scoffed at by the press. Archs left the label in April 2010 and was immediately replaced by Giles Deacon. One week later, menswear designer Franck Boclet announced his departure from the company after a three-year tenure. The menswear runway collection is currently on hold, with the possibility of relaunching it in the future. Giles' Spring 2011 debut featured "legitimate underwear, a sense of sanity, cars full of flowers, and most important, clothes that exhibited design merit," a huge coup for the label.

Status

Established

Clients

Angelina Jolie, Harrison Ford, Mary J. Blige, Kirsten Dunst, Jeremy Irons

Other Product Lines

Fragrances, Handbags, Jeans, Shoes

Collaborations

MAC Emanuel Ungaro, with MAC Cosmetics (2008), U by Ungaro for Avon (2007)

Owned By

Asim Abdullah, Global Asset Capital

Address

2 avenue Montaigne
Paris, France 75008
33-1-53-57-00-00

Where To Buy

Emanuel Ungaro, Vivaldi Boutique

Related Websites

• Emanuel Ungaro (Official)
• Style.com: Emanuel Ungaro (Media)
• Wikipedia: Emanuel Ungaro (Other)