Claude Montana, star designer of the Palace years dies

His signature was XXL shoulders and wasp waists. Fashion designer Claude Montana, who died in Paris on Friday at the age of 76, had established himself as a fashion icon of the 80s before being eclipsing from the catwalks by reversal of fortune.

A career made up of “very highs and very lows”, as the designer himself would say, recognisable by his eternal “Easy Rider” look (jacket, leather trousers and cowboy boots).

After making a name for himself in the 70s and becoming a darling of the 80s, he shot to fame in 1990 when he walked through the doors of Lanvin, which was celebrating its 100th anniversary at the time. He won two Dés d’or awards in quick succession, the highest distinction in the fashion world.

He subsequently ran into financial and personal difficulties and disappeared from the limelight at the turn of the millennium.

Swinging London

Born in Paris on June 29, 1947, Claude Montamat, his real name, grew up in an affluent family. His mother was German Protestant, his father Catalan. A pupil at the Lycée Condorcet, he had no intention of following in his older brother’s studious footsteps. After the baccalaureate, he worked as a part time job at the Paris Opera before heading off to England, attracted by the marginal “Swinging London” scene.

His parents disapproved of his choices and his lifestyle and cut him off. For good. Their son’s success did nothing to change that.

However, he remained very close to Jacqueline, his younger sister, who supported him in his professional projects and was his assistant for many years.

In London, the young blond man with the curly moustache started making paper-mâché jewellery. He was spotted by Vogue magazine, but he wasn’t very successful and didn’t have a work permit.

Back in Paris, he worked as a pattern maker for leather specialist Mac Douglas. “My job is fashion”, he said to himself. His first fashion show was in 1975. His flashy colours and extravagant rugby-shouldered outfits were an instant hit.

He created his own label in 1979. This rather discreet man, a regular at the Palace, the fashionable nightclub, became one of the star designers in Paris.

His theatrical fashion shows were events. “Great shows,” as Christian Lacroix used to say.

After turning down Dior’s offer to become its creative director and take charge of both haute couture and ready-to-wear, he joined Lanvin, which wanted to revive its collections. A great success.

Like Jean Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler before him, he also launched his own perfume, which did not do very well. His collaboration with Lanvin came to an end in 1997, he went bankrupt and had to sell his brand.

Suicide of his muse-wife

In his private life, he was beset by misfortune. Wallis Franken, his favourite model whom he had married a few years earlier, died when she jumped out of their flat in 1996.

He had health problems and, in 2008, was beaten up in his home by a former go-go dancer he had picked up in a nightclub. The attack left him with serious after-effects. He also had to face a sordid trial in which his attacker accused him of having transmitted hepatitis B to him.

The man who loved nothing more than to create has made occasional returns to fashion, but never to the forefront.

“Yes, I miss fashion… terribly,” he confided bitterly to Gala in 2016. “I’m a veteran now. I’ve been forgotten.”