Julie de Libran facts for kids

Julie de Libran (born February 23, 1972) is a French fashion designer. She has worked for many famous fashion houses like Gianfranco Ferré, Gianni Versace, Prada, and Louis Vuitton. She is an expert in designing clothes for women, especially for celebrities and special events, and also creates custom-made outfits. In May 2014, she became the artistic director for Sonia Rykiel. In June 2019, she started her own fashion brand called Julie de Libran Paris, which creates special made-to-order 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, and she spent her teenage years in San Diego during the 1980s. From a very young age, she loved fashion, being creative, and designing. In high school, she started drawing her own clothing ideas and taking them to a seamstress to be made.

Education in Fashion

In 1990, Julie de Libran traveled 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 moved to Paris to study draping at the École de la chambre syndicale de la couture parisienne. Draping is a method of designing clothes by arranging fabric directly on a dress form.

Fashion Career

Starting Out in Fashion

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

In 1994, de Libran moved to Paris and worked with Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, designing his women’s clothing collection. In 1996, she went back to Italy to work for Gianni Versace. She helped Gianni Versace and later Donatella Versace with their women's collections and special Atelier collections shown in Paris.

In 1998, she joined Prada and stayed there for ten and a half years. She was the design director for women’s ready-to-wear clothes, lingerie, and outfits for VIPs and celebrities. Working with Miuccia Prada, she helped Prada become well-known for dressing celebrities and for special events. In 2003, she also created Prada's custom-made clothing workshop in Paris.

Working at Louis Vuitton

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

Leading Sonia Rykiel

On May 15, 2014, Julie de Libran was chosen as the Artistic Director of Sonia Rykiel. In this role, she oversaw all of Sonia Rykiel’s clothing lines for women and accessories, as well as the children's line and home collection. Her first collection for Sonia Rykiel, for Spring Summer 2015, was shown in Paris in September 2014.

Her pre-fall 2015 show took place at the Jane Hotel in New York in January 2015. Her fall 2015-2016 show was held in the Saint-Germain-des-Pres store in March 2015. For this event, de Libran worked with publisher Thomas Lenthal and artist André Saraiva to turn the Sonia Rykiel store into a bookstore filled with 50,000 books.

In 2016, she worked with Spanish-American artist Maggie Cardelús to create a special print for the autumn-winter collection. In July 2018, Julie de Libran was invited to show Sonia Rykiel's first-ever couture collection, called l'Atelier. Couture collections feature very high-end, custom-made clothing. In September 2018, Julie de Libran showed her spring summer 2019 collection on the new Allée Sonia Rykiel, a street in Paris named after the late designer Sonia Rykiel.

Her Own Brand: Julie de Libran Paris

After leaving Sonia Rykiel in March 2019, Julie de Libran launched her own brand. She showed her first collection of 21 looks in her own home on June 30, 2019. Her collection focused on sustainability, meaning it was made in a way that is good for the environment. Each dress was made to order in small numbers, using leftover fabrics from other productions.

In December 2019, the Chambre syndicale de la Haute Couture announced that de Libran would show her second collection as a guest designer during the official couture week in Paris in January 2020.

In 2021, de Libran collaborated with other famous brands for her collection. She worked with Eres for lingerie, Charvet for shirt making, and Goossens for costume jewelry.

In January 2022, Julie de Libran opened her first physical store on the Left Bank in Paris, France, where people can see and buy her designs.