Yes, you are right, We've written about them all before. Maybe you'll accuse us of being more than a little obsessed. Guilty as charged. But these iconic fashion designers have always had soft spots in our hearts. And after all, Valentine's day is all about hearts isn't it? So here are a few of the designers who stole our hearts from the first time we saw their pieces!
1. YSL
One of the most important fashion designers of the 20th century, Yves Saint Laurent blurred gender lines in clothing long before it was fashionable to do so. Yes, I could go on and on about the way he defined and changed fashion, but this is about the way he spread love! So much has been written about his supposedly hedonistic lifestyle and his complicated personality, but we see a different Yves in the art he created. From 1970 until the year 2007, he sent cartes de voeux or New Year's cards to his family, friends, collaborators and clients. These LOVE cards featured collages of patterns and prints of the things he loved, from sculpture, art and Algerian botanicals to his beloved bulldog Moujik. Books have been written about them, and they have been turned into posters, banners, etc. But we think they never go out of style, because love never gets old!
Vintage Yves Saint Laurent LOVE card Puffer Coat
(from the Modig Archives)
2. Franco Moschino
Art is Love - The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Our love of all things Franco Moschino is obvious when you enter our studio. He transformed his love/hate affair with fashion into timeless pieces that exuded whimsy and passion. The ultimate anti fashion fashion statements ironically became some of the most fashionable of the 1990's. He not only included his love of Popeye and Olive Oyl in his pieces - bold hearts were a recurring component of his designs. We really love him.
Moschino Jeans Patchwork Heart Vest
Vintage Moschino Button Heart Sweater - Coming Soon!
Rare Franco Moschino Repetita Juvant "Ace of Hearts" Jacket 1993
Moschino Cheap and Chic: All This and Glamour Too! Velour Top
3. Patrick Kelly
Perhaps no designer made love more fashionable and accessible than the incomparable Patrick Kelly. One of our very favorite designers from the 1980's. Kelly was not only the first American, but the first black designer admitted into the prestigious Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture in Paris. We have sold many of his pieces and shed a tear each time one leaves our collection. He put his very big heart into each of his collections and he even spray painted a heart on the walls of his runway shows! We are just sad that there weren't many more seasons of Patrick Kelly to love. Patrick Kelly's life was cut short in 1990 at the age of 35 due to complications from AIDs. A tragic loss. But we love that we can still celebrate his life and career and the fact that a little boy who grew up in Mississippi watching I love Lucy would one day be a favorite designer of Lucy herself! We not only love him, his fashions, and his love spreading mission, we adore the "love" list he left behind:
Patrick Kelly's Love List:
