1923-
Fashion Designer

Innovation and Influence.

There were many important fashion designers during the 1960s — Pierre Cardin, Yves St. Laurent, Oleg Cassini, and others — but among the most influential in both Europe and the United States was the experimental French couturier Andre Courreges. He is credited for being among the first to introduce hemlines above the knee and pantsuits for women, among other innovative fashions.

Apprenticeship and Early Designs.

As an adolescent Courreges was inclined toward an artistic career, but following the wishes of his practical-minded father he became a civil engineer instead. In 1948 he left a promising engineering career and moved to Paris to enter the fashion world. After a few months in a small fashion house, he joined the house of Cristobal Balenciaga and worked his way up from the bottom, from presser to Balenciaga's main assistant and cutter. In 1961, with his...