Jules François Crahay

The name Jules François Crahay may not mean very much to you, and yet… This Belgian is one of the last geniuses of couture. For the first time, and thanks to extensive research, the museum is devoting an exhibition to him. An opportunity to discover or rediscover this undeservedly forgotten couturier.

‘A new star is rising in the firmament of Parisian fashion’, journalist John Fairchild wrote in Women’s Wear Daily in 1959. Jules François Crahay had just signed his first collection for the Nina Ricci fashion house. It was showered with praise and brought in countless orders. The press compared him to Christian Dior. The subsequent collections confirmed his reputation as a master of couture.

In 1964, he joined the Maison Lanvin, where he created some 40 haute couture collections and more ready-to-wear garments. He dressed celebrities like Claudia Cardinale, Princess Paola and Jackie Kennedy. His unique creativity and independent thinking opened the way to Belgian designers like Martin Margiela, Olivier Theyskens and Nicolas di Felice at the head of prestigious Parisian fashion houses.

A key figure in the fashion sector during his lifetime, Jules François Crahay descended into oblivion after his death. The reasons include his discrete nature as well as the absence of a brand that would have kept his name alive. He left behind no archives after his death decades ago.

Jules François Crahay was born in Liège on 21 May 1917. From an early age, he was immersed in the world of couture. His mother had a workshop that offered “dresses and coats”. That world made a deep impression on him. In 1934, he moved to Paris to take courses in cutting at the Institut Mondial de Coupe. He spent two years there. When he returned to Liège, he worked for his mother’s company.

On 11 May 1940, he was taken prisoner and sent to a camp in Lower Saxony. He designed and made costumes for the camp’s theatrical troupe. He was liberated by the British on 8 May 1945 and returned home to Belgium. Twenty days later, his mother died at the age of 52. After that, he took over his mother’s fashion house and renamed it Jules Crahay.

In 1951, he moved to Paris to take over the Jane Régny fashion label. After presenting just two collections, the company went bankrupt. He then joined Nina Ricci as a designer. In 1959, he designed his first collection that was entirely haute couture. In 1963, he joined the Jeanne Lanvin company, replacing Antonio Castillo as designer. He would ultimately become the best paid couturier in Paris. Two years later, the Jeanne Lanvin fashion house reduced the size of its haute couture collection by half. Crahay also created the brand’s ready-to-wear line.

Over the course of his career, Jules François Crahay was awarded 3 Dès d’or. A record! He received the awards in 1977, 1981 and 1984, the year of his last haute-couture collection at Lanvin. Two years later, he designed the first collection in his ready-to-wear brand: Jules François Crahay. It was produced by the Japanese group Itokin. Two boutiques opened in Tokyo and Osaka.

Jules François Crahay died on 5 January 1988 in Monte-Carlo