Galanos, James 1925-

American Decades | Date: 2001

GALANOS, JAMES 1925-

Fashion designer

Luxury, Endurance

James Galanos, known as "Jimmy," is considered one of the finest American designers working today. Galanos's clothes are known for their luxurious quality, flawless crafting, and imported fabrics. He prides himself on creating clothes that endure: "I have women tell me that they still wear dresses that are fifteen, twenty years old. Women who wear my clothes year after year wait for me." Galanos sells his expensive lines in specialty shops around the world, making personal appearances with his assistant and their stainless steel standup trunks to show gowns that range from $1,500 to $15,000; these appearances can result in $500,000 in sales. His clients include Diana Ross and Nancy Reagan.

Galanos and Nancy Reagan

Although Galanos had been well known in the fashion world since the 1950s, his name became more familiar when Nancy Reagan became first lady. His elegant, elaborately made clothes were in great demand by wealthy fashion enthusiasts in the decade of opulence, and Nancy Reagan was no exception. But Mrs. Reagan and Jimmy Galanos were acquainted long before she wore his gowns to the balls at both of her husband's inaugurations, as is evident from the signed photograph of the Reagans in Galanos's office. She chose a white satin one-shouldered gown for the first ball and a straight, jeweled dress with a bolero top four years later.

Life

Born in Philadelphia in 1925, Galanos was the son of Greek immigrants. His mother and his father, a frustrated artist, ran a restaurant in southern New Jersey, where Galanos had his first glimpses of well-dressed women. A shy boy in a family of three sisters, by the age often Galanos had decided to become a designer. After a few months at Taphagan School of Fashion in New York, he began selling his sketches at five dollars apiece to Seventh Avenue manufacturers. He worked for a time in Los Angeles, starting his own business in 1951. His lines include hats, shoes, hosiery, and accessories, all designed by Galanos. In 1980 he launched a perfume that cost $100 an ounce. In 1984 the Council of Fashion Designers of America recognized his many years of producing high-quality fashion with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

The 1980s

Galanos is wary of fashion trends, preferring to design classic, enduring clothes for women. In the 1980s his styles reflected some of the choices and paradoxes that dominated the decade. At middecade he combined youthful long and short denim skirts with elegant ivory satin shirts. He said in 1985, "Today women want inventive clothes that transcend trends, clothes that will last." He watches trendy street fashion with interest but at a distance: "Today many designers make clothes that are extreme, clothes that are simply statements of fashion news [but] I am happy making understated clothes or dazzling embroidered dresses, whichever it takes to make a woman beautiful."

Source:

Andre Leon Talley, "A Certain Quality: Galanos," Vogue, 175 (June 1985): 130-133.

Copyright 2001, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.