Charles James

Charles Wilson Brega James (18 July 1906 – 23 September 1978) was an English-American fashion designer. He is best known for his ballgowns and highly structured aesthetic. James is one of the most influential fashion designers of the 20th century and continues to influence new generations of designers.

Early life James' father, Ralph Ernest Haweis James, was a British army officer and instructor at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. His mother, Louise Enders Brega, came from a wealthy Chicago family. He was educated at The New Beacon in Sevenoaks, Kent from 1914 to 1918. In 1919, he attended Harrow School where he met Evelyn Waugh, Francis Cyril Rose, and Cecil Beaton, with whom he formed a longstanding friendship. He was expelled from Harrow for a "sexual escapade".

After that, James briefly studied music at the University of Bordeaux in France before he went to Chicago to work. The utilities magnate Samuel Insull, a friend of the family, found him a position in the architectural design department where he acquired the mathematical skills that later enabled him to create his gowns.

At the age of nineteen, James opened his first milliner shop in Chicago, using the name of "Charles Boucheron", as his father forbade him to use that of James.

Career

From Charles Boucheron to Charles James

In 1928, James left Chicago for Long Island with 70 cents, a Pierce Arrow, and a number of hats as his only possessions. He later opened a millinery shop above a garage in Murray Hill, Queens, New York, beginning his first dress designs. This jacket has been considered the starting point for "anoraks, space man and even fur jackets". In the 1930s, he also invented the Pavlovian waistband that expands after a meal.

New York career

James moved permanently to New York in 1939 where he established Charles James, Inc. At the end of the Second World War, he designed a clothing line for Elizabeth Arden.

In 1947, James showed a collection in Paris. The following year, Millicent Rogers organized an exhibition of the outfits he made for her at the Brooklyn Museum, entitled "A Decade of Design for Mrs Millicent H. Rogers by Charles James". Also in 1948, Cecil Beaton famously photographed eight of James' creations for Vogue.

In the early 1950s, James spent most of his time in New York City at his Madison Avenue workshop. He won two Coty Awards, in 1950 and 1954, and one Neiman Marcus Award in 1953. That year he conceived the "Four-Leaf Clover" or "Abstract" ballgown for the journalist Austine Hearst. Scaasi was notably in charge of the ready-to-wear line. After he left, James dropped the line and returned to licensing special designs to American departments, which would produce and distribute them.

He designed the interior and several pieces of furniture for the Houston home of John and Dominique de Menil.

James retired in 1958. James died in 1978 of bronchial pneumonia.

Museum exhibitions

The Brooklyn Museum presented "The Genius of Charles James" from October 1982 to January 1983.

The Chicago History Museum exhibited "Charles James: Genius Deconstructed" between October 2011 and April 2012.

In 2014, James's work was the subject of the opening exhibition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's newly renovated Anna Wintour Costume Center entitled "Charles James: Beyond Fashion".

James without Charles James In May 2014, concomitantly to the James retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum, The Weinstein Company (TWC) announced it had signed a license agreement with James's heirs, Charles Jr. and Louise James, to produce new collections, and thus contribute to the brand revival. Two years of legal battle followed between the heirs and the Luvanis company, which had already registered the brand in an array of jurisdictions worldwide.

At the time, Zac Posen was rumored to be the next artistic designer of the brand.

In June 2016, TWC withdrew, and Luvanis thereafter partnered with James' heirs to revive the Charles James brand. In September 2018, they revealed a new visual identity for Charles James, and put up for sale all the brand's rights, which had been consolidated in the previous years.