INTRO TO FASHION 101: HERVE LEGER

Known for his body concious silouhettes, Hervé Léger*--who honed his craft under the tutelage of Karl Lagerfeld, with whom he designed swimwear for Fendi and Chanel--has a knack for accentuating a woman's curves while resculpting and remoulding the rest. Léger is often compared to Azzedine Alaia because of the uninterrupted line and body-hugging fit of his dresses.

The woman that he designs for is "fed up with the vagaries of fashion; she does not give a damn about trends, she refuses to be a feminine clothes hanger". - Hervé Léger

His signature "bender" dresses, which are enjoying a resurgence (see the slide and pic below), are composed of hand-stitched elastic bandages and are as elegant in their simplicity as they were serendipitous in their origin. Two days before he was to show his collection in February 1989, he spotted a roll of seam-binding made from Lurex, Lycra and Elasticine lying on the floor. He began winding it round a wooden mannequin and the bender dress was born.

Kim Kardashian is a big fan of Léger's bender dress!

The New York Post reports that BCBGMAXAZRIA GROUP plans to show their Hervé Léger by Max Azria ready-to-wear collection during Fall 2008 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. This will mark the first time since the mid-nineties that the collection will be presented on the runway, and the first time ever that it will be shown in New York. The collection was originally shown in Paris. Read more here. Hervé Léger is available at four eponymous boutiques located on Paris’ legendary rue Cambon, New York’s Madison Avenue, Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive and in Las Vegas.

* He is known today as Hervé L. Leroux due in large part to conflicts with directors at BCBG which owned nearly all of his company and had the rights to his name!

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Thanks to UK reader, Thuy Anh, for the Hervé Léger by Max Azria tip!