In charge of BCBG and Hervé Léger, Chief Creative Officer of Max Azria Group, Lubov Azria, tells us how the right dress can help you rule the world.
“BCBG stands for good style, good attitude. It was actually named after Max’s daughters who are very ‘bon chic bon genre’ themselves. We set out with the question of ‘how do we make women look and feel beautiful without having to spend a fortune?’ Before us, contemporary, mid-range designer labels just didn’t exist. You either had Casual Corner or Calvin Klein – there was nothing in between. So we decided to fill that gap. After us, everyone followed.
Max and I designed together but I never wanted to come out at the end of the show with him – I preferred to be in the back getting my hands dirty. But then in 2001, right after 9/11, I decided to. That time marked a different woman’s strength. And to me, that’s the BCBG girl – bold and fearless. My purpose in life is to dress a modern woman. I want her to buy a hundred different dresses and celebrate herself every single day, rather than just one dress that she shows off once. She can be three types of customer; the connoisseur (the working mum who still wants to be cool), the socialite who’s always at the forefront of fashion, or the visionary – the girl who works in the industry and has a point of view. But the common thread is the urban-rock vibe in all of them. I truly believe that women are born to be rock stars and that clothes are a way to get there.
Hervé Léger is a great example. It’s all about sensuality, strength, power and passion – this woman is incredible; she knows what she wants and when she wants it. It’s not just about the body-con dress, it’s about how she wears it. In fact, my best customer is a size 16 who, when she puts on that dress, rules the world. The confidence that clothes can give you is what changes how you feel. That girl is a star.
What I love about women these days is that they don’t want men supporting them. They’re far more concerned with thinking about what they want and living their life to the fullest. What we concern ourselves with is designing for that woman and making her inspirational. I live for that. I ran a marathon last year and when you run 26.2 miles you have a lot of things going through your mind. One was inspiring people to be inspirational, however that may be. In life you don’t find yourself, you create yourself. It’s the same when you’re getting dressed; you have to think what you want to experience and what mood you’re in. Sometimes you want to be romantic, the next day bohemian, and some days you just want to rock. That’s the reason we create a collection of such different styles; it means you can reinvent yourself and have fun. Nothing’s linear. It’s like when I design, I’ll sketch one thing and it will become something else. I love that evolution because it’s an organic process; like anything in the world, what doesn’t grow dies, and what doesn’t contribute gets eliminated. It’s nature – there are no straight lines, only curves. And that’s what a woman is. She adds curves to life.”
