Rad Hourani and the "real" Hervé Léger join the Haute Couture calendar

By

Florent Gilles

Published
Nov 19, 2012

Four guest members have been selected to show in Paris for Haute Couture Fashion Week. Following a meeting last week, the Chambre Syndicale has given four designers the opportunity to present their Spring/Summer 2013 collection on the 24 January 2013, the last day of the event.

Still under-the-radar in France but well known on the international scale for his radical style, Rad Hourani creates unisex and adjustable pieces, often inspired by architecture. In the five years of his career, the 30-year-old designer has made a name for himself in New York where he shows his ready-to-wear collection, Rad by Rad Hourani, every season and in Paris where he has just opened his store, named Unisex Gallery, on Rue Charlot. His shows have been the benefice of superstar Patti Wilson, who has been the designer’s accomplice since his start.

The Jordan-born Canadian showed for the first time in Paris in July 2012 after intriguing the members of the Chambre Syndicale with his style that they deemed atypical and worthy for Parisian Haute Couture. Previously, the Chambre Syndicale has helped boost the careers of Iris Van Harpen, bouchra Jarrar, Julien Fournié and Yiqing Yin by inviting them to show at Haute Couture Fashion Week.

Hervé Leroux, the designer formally known as Hervé Léger, the French dressmaker who popularized the bandage dress in the 1980’s. The designer sold his brand to the BCBGMaxArzria group in 1988 and therefore lost the right to use his name. The former assistant designer to Karl Lagerfeld at Fendi and Chanel then went on to become artistic designer at Wolford. Under the new name Hervé Leroux, the dressmaker recently opened an atelier and shop on Rue Jacob on Saint-Germain-des-Près where he makes made-to-measure evening dresses in his signature draped style. Stars on the red carpet as well as the Chambre Syndicale are under his spell, warranting his return to the limelight this coming Haute Couture season.