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Catherine Goux

CREATIVE DIRECTOR/FASHION CONSULTANT

Specialised in Embroidery + Luxury Lingerie

 

catherine-petite-finalChildhood

1955
Catherine was 8 when she started creating dresses for her Barbie dolls. Her mother taught her embroidery, sewing and knitting. It was the beginning of a lifelong passion. Her father, a talented designer and cabinetmaker of the prestigious Ecole Boulle in Paris, brought her up in a highly artistic and creative environment. As a result, Catherine discovered the richness and quality of the French artistic community.

1975-1984 
While bringing up 3 Children, she always love being creative, drawing pencil sketches, creating fashion collages and taking photos. At the same time, she created and sold her first hand-made embroidered knitwear to friends and local retailers.

1984-1987
She got the licence Lamborghini Marine to design a collection for the official race team and to produce a luxury collection of sports wear and embroidered jackets that  was solded through the companies official store. It was hugely successful for 3 years in Saint -Tropez.

IMG_0057Fashion Schools

1988
Catherine studied a 3-year design course at Parisian fashion school Fleuri Delaporte. On this course, she learned to draw fashion sketches and has been doing so ever since. She also studied a fashion design course at the Parisian Fashion-School Esmod.

AtmosphereEmbroidery

1992
Maison Lesage in Paris is the most prestigious House of Embroidery in the world of fashion. They own the largest collection of vintage embroideries in the world. They create and produce embroidery for all the major fashion houses. In 1992, Maison Lesage opened their exclusive Art Embroidery School .  Catherine became their first student where she completed a 4-year course, specialising in Haute–Couture Embroidery and Interior Design. The experience hugely influenced Catherine’s style and continues to do so today. Embroidery is a strong feature of her brand.

Launch of Catherine Goux brand

2006-06-21 10.29.401995
Catherine created her own brand, and presented her first collection of luxury-embroidered dresses in Maison Lesage that introduced her officially into the world of fashion. In the same year, whilst travelling in Pakistan and India, sourcing embroidery workshops for her own brand, she discovered a traditional hand-embroidered scarf that inspired her to create, produce and distribute a complete hand-embroidered beachwear collection. The range was so successful and exclusive that Catherine’s sarongs and dresses were distributed worldwide and sold by the most prestigious retailers across the globe for over 10 years including 3/4 BIGS RETAILS. In August 1995, 3000 sarongs were sold in Saint Tropez. That success allowed her to build a special relationship with the fashion press.

Dress Under-Dress: A Lingerie Spirit

IMG_41021998
Catherine was fascinated by the artistic work of Haute Couture and the French level of quality of workmanship. She developed for her own brand Catherine Goux, a concept of dress under-dress, which featured lingerie in day and evening garments. She chosed the atelier Sophie Warée, a Parisian French House specialising in Lingerie and Haute-Couture since 1946, which created and produced garments for famous brands such as Dior, Saint-Laurent, Nina Ricci, Lanvin, Lacroix, Ungaro Balmain and Vuitton. She presented this first collection which defined her style as a spirit of lingerie in Jardin des Tuileries in Paris, and sold 1200 pieces in a day to the top boutiques and departments store all around the world including Le Bon Marché PARIS/Bergdorf Newman New York /Neiman Marcus USA/Joyce Hong Kong/ Isetan Japon/Selfridges London/Brown’s London, Liberty London…

shop1-finalA fate of destiny

2002
Catherine continued to develop her own brand and open her first shop in Paris. At this time, CHANEL acquired several houses of fashion crafts, including Maison Lesage, and invited Catherine to become creative director of Lesage’s Embroidery school. She considered it fate to return to the place of her training. The access to over 60 000 embroidery archives was a massive inspiration. During 5 years, Catherine promoted the school internationally to showcase the excellence of Lesage. She created professional technics support for teaching and produced 3 books to promote this Art.

Sophie Waree, Paris

sophie Waree vintage12006
Catherine acquired the Atelier Sophie Warée and all of their vintage collection and drawings. It was a decision that offered her the opportunity to produce exclusive artisanal pieces. She added evening and wedding dresses to her own portfolio and turns her attention to private clients rather than a larger retailers. For 2 years she also created complex Haute Couture and Ready-to-Wear prototypes for Dior, Lacroix, Murad Zuhair, Balenciaga and designed mini collections for ready to wear brands.

London

2008 to today
Due to family circumstances, Catherine moved to London England where she installed her studio. As she dedicated most of her time working on collections for other houses, she did not have enough time to spend on her own brand “Catherine Goux” and realised that business was not her passion. She then decided to closed down Sophie Warée, and put her brand on hold while still designing exclusive dresses for a few private clientele. Catherine has always been inspired to keep learning, be forward thinking and embrace the digital world. in 2008 she enrolled in some short courses at St Martin’s School, studying fashion illustration and computer fashion. Since 2012, Catherine has also been taking private classes in digital art, fashion illustration and creative courses in Photoshop, illustrator, Indesign Corel Painter, at Controla LTD in London.

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