In the 80s, Claude Montana was at his best, owning several boutiques in Paris, appearing at the CFDA awards accompanied by Cher, designing couture collections for Lanvin and living in marriage with his muse Wallis Franken. But by the mid-1990s, Claude Montana seemed to have lost his foothold, failing both in work and in his personal life.
1976 – the first show in the best Parisian tea room Angelina’s Tea Room. An ardent colorist, he filled the collection with blues, reds and silvers and luxurious fabrics – silk, leather and cashmere.
1979 – the designer founded his own eponymous Fashion House Montana.
Despite initial criticism, Montana soon became the fashion industry’s darlings, along with Thierry Mugler (French couturier), who also favored bright colors and aggressive silhouettes. What became known as the “power dressing” trend in the 80s and 90s was born from the bold vision of Claude Montana.
In 1989, the brand, whose creative reins were taken over by fashion designer Claude Montana, was Lanvin. Montana calls this time the happiest in his career. “Creating couture collections was my dream,” he recalls.
After leaving Lanvin in 1992, Claude Montana announced the launch of two diffuse lines, Montana Femme and State of Montana.
Montana still produces RTW collections for men and women and a line of accessories. Claude Montana’s jewelry is made of jewelry alloy of gold and silver tone, with brushing and patterns and inlays of art glass and lucite. Jewelry looks high quality and heavy. Some products are decorated with the letter M or the inscription Claude Montana.
Meanwhile, the designer himself disappeared for a long time from the spotlight of the fashion industry. With the advent of the 2000s, almost nothing was heard about Montana until 2011, when it became known about the release of the book “Claude Montana: Fashion Radical”. The publication, co-authored with fashion journalist Marielle Crot, is a retrospective of Claude’s career and legacy.
