Guy Laroche

French fashion designer and couturiere who designed consistently elegant, flattering fashions, widely admired for their superb cut and mid-range pricing.

Laroche began his training under the supervision of Paris designer Jean Dessès in 1949, and while on a trip to the New York City garment district in 1955, he learned about production and marketing. Four years later he opened a boutique for his new ready-to-wear line. In 1966, he launched a perfume line, and by the late 1960s, he had expanded into Menswear. He stopped designing ready-to-wear in the 1970s, turning his concentration instead to haute couture, and by the late 1980s, he had over 250 boutiques around the world.

He was honored in 1985 and 1989 with the Golden Thimble award from the international fashion press, and in 1987, Laroche was made a chevalier of the Legion of Honour.