Julie de Libran facts for kids

Julie de Libran, born on February 23, 1972, is a talented French fashion designer. She has worked for many famous fashion brands like Gianfranco Ferré, Gianni Versace, Prada, and Louis Vuitton. Julie is known for designing women's clothes, especially for celebrities and special events. She also creates "made-to-measure" clothes, which means they are custom-made to fit one person perfectly. In May 2014, she became the main designer for Sonia Rykiel. Then, in June 2019, she started her own fashion brand called Julie de Libran Paris. This brand focuses on beautiful, custom-made clothes for women.

Early Life

Julie de Libran was born in Aix-en-Provence, a city in the south of France. She grew up in a small village nearby called Vernègues. When she was eight years old, her family moved to the United States. She spent her teenage years in San Diego during the 1980s. From a young age, Julie loved fashion and design. In high school, she started drawing fashion sketches and taking them to a seamstress to be made.

Education

In 1990, Julie de Libran moved to Italy to study fashion. She attended the Istituto Artistico dell’Abbigliamento Marangoni in Milan. There, she learned about fashion design and how to create clothing patterns. After that, she went to Paris. She studied draping at the École de la chambre syndicale de la couture parisienne. Draping is a way of designing clothes by arranging fabric directly on a dress form.

Fashion Career

Early Design Work

From 1991 to 1994, Julie worked in Milan with the designer Gianfranco Ferré. At that time, Ferré was also designing for Christian Dior. Julie worked closely with him on his women's collections. She also designed his lines called Oaks by Ferré and Ferré Jeans Collection.

In 1994, Julie moved to Paris. She worked with Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, designing his women’s clothing line. In 1996, she returned to Italy to work for Gianni Versace. She helped Gianni Versace and then Donatella Versace with their women's collections. She also worked on their special Atelier Collection, which was shown in Paris.

In 1998, Julie joined the fashion company Prada. She stayed there for over ten years. At Prada, she was the design director for women’s ready-to-wear clothes, lingerie, and clothes for VIPs and celebrities. She worked with Miuccia Prada to help the company become famous for dressing celebrities at events. In 2003, she even created Prada's special made-to-measure workshop in Paris.

Louis Vuitton (2008–2014)

From 2008 to 2014, Julie de Libran worked for the French fashion brand Louis Vuitton. She was the creative and studio director for women's clothing. She worked very closely with designer Marc Jacobs. Together, they worked on all the creative parts of ready-to-wear clothes, accessories, ad campaigns, and fashion shows. Julie also designed "Icons," which was Louis Vuitton's line of classic pieces. She also created the cruise and pre-fall collections. In 2013, a newspaper called The Telegraph described her as "Louis Vuitton's secret weapon."

Sonia Rykiel (2014–2019)

On May 15, 2014, Julie de Libran became the Artistic Director of Sonia Rykiel. This meant she was in charge of all of Sonia Rykiel’s women's clothing and accessories. She also oversaw the Sonia By Sonia Rykiel line, the children's line, and the home collection. Her first collection for Sonia Rykiel was for Spring Summer 2015. It was shown in Paris in September 2014.

In March 2015, her Fall 2015-2016 show took place in the Sonia Rykiel store in Saint-Germain-des-Pres. For this event, Julie worked with a publisher and an artist. They turned the flagship store into a bookstore filled with 50,000 books. In 2016, she worked with artist Maggie Cardelús to create a print for the autumn-winter collection. In July 2018, Julie was invited to show Sonia Rykiel's first-ever couture collection. Couture means very high-end, custom-made fashion. In September 2018, Julie de Libran showed her Spring Summer 2019 collection on a new street in Paris. This street was named Allée Sonia Rykiel, after the late designer Sonia Rykiel.

Julie de Libran Paris (2019–Present)

After leaving Sonia Rykiel in March 2019, Julie de Libran started her own fashion brand. She showed her first collection of 21 looks in her own home on June 30, 2019. Her collection was designed with sustainability in mind. Each dress was made to order in small numbers, using leftover fabrics.

In December 2019, it was announced that Julie de Libran would show her second collection as a guest designer. This would happen during the official couture week in Paris in January 2020. In 2021, Julie worked with other famous brands for her collection. She collaborated with Eres for lingerie, Charvet for shirt making, and Goossens for costume jewelry. In January 2022, Julie de Libran opened her first physical store in Paris, France.