Jacques

Jacques Esterel is a french designer.  His birth name is Charles Martin (1918-1974).   Because of his amazing career, you would think that he studied fashion, but he was an engineering student.  He is also a writer and composer along with that he had his Couture house.

Jacques Esterel really enjoyed being reffered as  the "Parisian craftsman of dresses and songs."  He wasn't only known for being a pretty avant guarde designer for the time, but also known for being an entertainer.  He wrote songs and plays with his guitar.  He had many boutiques all over France and Europe.  He was always theatrical, almost as if he lived halway between fantasy and reality, and that was his inspiration for his garments.  he had such outrageaou styles and at the time the critics  really defines him as a show man more then anything else.  He had many admirers.

Jacques presenting his collection "Religieuse" , inspired by Jacques Rivette's film.

http://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/jacques-esterel-french-couturier-presenting-his-fashion-news-photo/56231918?Language=en-US

"Vicky"

His couture house was established in 1953, Jacques Esterel.  He was very successful the first few years as he was quite a fashion enthusiastic.  It was illustrated by the "Vicky", which is a bridal gown designed for a french actress, Brigitte Bardot.

This is the "Vicky" bridal dress that Brigitte Bardot wore in 1959.

Compare to todays bridal dresses, this is very simple and short.  Today a brides dress would be more enthusiastic with volume and also the length of the dress.  It's usually longer and exaggerated.

Reputation

Esterel really travalled around the world to promote his collection and gained a very positive and international reputation.  He was still very loyal to engineering.  Because of his machines and tools it really allowed him to uphold his fashion design career.

Jacques Esterel Outfit - 1964

L’Officiel De La Mode - 503-504

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/jacques+esterel

Carnival

His attitude towards fashion were almost like a carnival.  His designs were extremely fancy and was over exaggerated by the press.  Esterel was really exploring his own "sense of whimsical creativity" instead of making just about designing clothes.  He was all about making statements.  In his show, in 1963, he had tweed hats with small black veils and umbrellas with built-in lights.  In 194 show , he wanted a few of his top models to appear in the show with shaved heads, which the main focus will be the beauty and importance of the female face.  "Confused and complicated" was the title of his collection in 1965, it included baithing suits with long skintight legs described as "something out of a Mack Sennet Movie."

The Streets

Jacques Esterel was the main focus on trends in the 1960s and the 1970s.  He took stylish street looks into a hate couture.  His 1965 collection for men included a plaid suit with a kilt and a salmon-colored nehru jacket in corduroy which would be worn over high yoked pants with zippers on front and back.  For women he created very exagerated  evening wear with a floor-length skirt and hooded evening cape of matching velour.

"Jacques Esterel, 1966 collections: "Mironton" (left), a Scottish-style plaid kilt ensemble, and "False Brother" (right), a vinyl pantsuit with zipped jacket ensemble."

 

 http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/Es-Fo/Esterel-Jacques.html#b#ixzz1oQVLmipj

Inspiration

Esterel was a fearless man.  In the 1970's, Esterel was well known for his collection called the "unisex" line, it was a clothing line presented for both men and women.  His talent attracted many future stars such as Jean-Paul Gaultier and Anne Marie Beretta.

Below is a video of his "Unisex" line.
http://www.ina.fr/art-et-culture/mode-et-design/video/I10357955/mode-unisexe-de-jacques-esterel.fr.html

Young Jean Paul-Gaultier when he worked with Jacques Esterel.