Jean Charles De Castelbajac gears up to open London flagship

Iconic French designer, Jean Charles de Castelbajac is gearing up to open his first London flagship store at 50-51 Conduit Street on 5th June with a launch party for fashion press and special guests. The store which has been designed by both the architect Christian Ghion and Jean Charles de Castelbajac, will feature a ‘Rubik’s cube’ till, designed by Castelbajac and the first of its kind in the world. The new store will stock the entire range of Castelbajac’s products including his fashion collections, luggage, sunglasses, shoes, headwear and stationary.

Jean Charles de Castelbajac, has been designing and creating high quality men’s and women’s apparel and accessories for over 30 years. His signature pieces include the teddy bear coat, Iceberg’s cartoon sweater and the first quilted coat in 1972. His first collection was shown in 1973 and his visionary styling inspired the fashions of military, shooting and utilitywear. He founded the controversial denim brand Jesus Jeans in 1975 and has also designed for Sportmax, Maxmara, and Ellesse.

Numerous celebrities, including Madonna, John Lennon, Andy Warhol, Mick Jagger and recently Rufus Wainwright and socialite Tara Palmer Tompkinson have worn his designs. Other projects include Farrah Fawcett’s costumes in Charlie’s Angels and dressing the Pope for the National Youth Day celebrations in Paris in 1997.

In 1997 Jean Charles received recognition as a high profile and worldwide designer through his design and distribution partnership with Itochu in Japan and South Korea. The Castelbajac brands for menswear and womenswear have since developed a loyal following in these markets.

From April to July 2007 the Musee Galliera in Paris held a retrospective exhibition of Jean Charles de Castelbajac’s work over the past 30 years entitled “Gallierock”, which was sponsored by the City of Paris. Castelbajac has also exhibited at London’s historic Victoria and Albert Museum.

JCC flagship stores worldwide, include Paris, Tokyo, Kobe, Guam, Galeries Lafayette, Lyon and now the new flagship in London’s Conduit Street.