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JAMES, CHARLES 1906-1978

DRESS DESIGNER

Proving American Style Sensibility

Designer Charles James was instrumental in introducing American high fashion to Europe. Widely respected for his original dresses, he was unique among American designers in the 1930s in that he operated on the Paris pattern, creating clothes for private clients and then selling the original models to leading stores throughout the United States. In 1952 he entered the wholesale business, making his designs available to the general public through mass production. In 1955 he opened his own retail stores.

Early Life

Charles Wilson Brega James was born in England in 1906. Finding school dull, he refused to attend the college his father had chosen for him. Instead, he went to work with a family friend who taught him the basics of business. In 1927 James moved to the United States and opened a dress shop in New York. He presented his first collection in London in 1928 and opened European branches in London and Paris.

Life in Europe

James's business took off in the 1930s. He began producing designs, including linens, accessories, and sportswear, for American buyers such as Best and Company, Marshall Field, Taylor Importing Company, and Casino Frocks. He divided his time between London and Paris while regularly sending dresses to the United States. In 1936 he became the toast of Paris with his first show there. Paul Poiret, one of the great Parisian couturiers, declared to James that "I pass you my crown. Wear it well." James stayed in Europe until 1939, when the war interfered with his work there.

Unusual Textures and Colors

James worked within his own vision of the silhouette. His asymmetrical draped clothes were made in lustrous, weighty fabrics such as heavy faille, slipper satin, and velvet and combined fabrics of different textures in the same dress. One of his best-known designs was the complicated culotte, which had one trouser leg and one skirtlike leg folded over to the other side. He also experimented with colors in his evening clothes, combining apricot and eggplant, shell pink and ginger, and orange and rose.

Back to America

Upon his return to the United States in 1939, James set out to promote native American designers. Besides gaining respect from Wall Street financiers who backed his work, he was also recognized by fashion mogul Elizabeth Arden, who in 1944 hired him to design, staff, and decorate her fashion floor. Both James and Arden were known for their fiery tempers, and the two severed their relationship shortly after he showed his first collection under the Arden label.

Winning a Coty

James reopened his New York stores in 1945 and began selling original dresses to Lord and Taylor, Neiman-Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, and other stores. In 1947 he showed his designs in Paris to rave reviews. Virginia Pope, the New York Times fashion editor who covered the show, praised him as offering the most sensational designs of the show. In 1950 he was awarded the American Fashion Critics Award (Coty) for his "great mystery of color and artistry of draping." Throughout the 1950s and 1960s he continued selling his original designs to major department stores.