Carlos Falchi (September 26, 1944 – March 27, 2015) was a Brazilian-born American handbag and accessories designer known for his
patchwork designs.
[Cathy Hoyrn]
The Return of the King of Patchwork
''The New York Times'', October 29, 2009, Accessed October 30, 2009. He has won awards for accessory design, and his accessories have appeared in several TV shows and movies. His business generates about $100 million a year in retail sales.
[
]
Background and education
Falchi began his career in 1970s Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
, New York City. He worked as a busboy at Max's Kansas City
Max's Kansas City was a nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South in New York City, which became a gathering spot for musicians, poets, artists and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s. It was opened by Mickey Ruskin (1933–1983) in Decembe ...
while developing his designs; at one point his neighbor was Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
. His clientele were originally rockers and jazz artists.[
]
Bendels
Retailer Geraldine Stutz
Geraldine Stutz (August 5, 1924 – April 8, 2005) was an American retail groundbreaker. She was appointed president of Henri Bendel in 1957, serving for 29 years until stepping down in 1986.
Biography
She was born in Chicago, Illinois. Her p ...
, of Henri Bendel
Henri Bendel, Inc. (pronounced BEN-del), established in 1895, was a women's department store based in New York City which in its later history sold women's handbags, jewelry, luxury fashion accessories, home fragrances and gifts. Its New York Ci ...
stores, gave Falchi one of his early breaks. His designs became fashionable and he rose to early success.
Materials
Falchi's bags often use skins such as python
Python may refer to:
Snakes
* Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia
** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia
* Python (mythology), a mythical serpent
Computing
* Python (pro ...
, alligator
An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additiona ...
and ostrich
Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There are ...
and are soft and unstructured.
Market venues
His main collection tends to be sold at upscale department stores
A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appea ...
for prices ranging from $1,500 to up to $5,000. In 2009, American discount retailer Target
Target may refer to:
Physical items
* Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports
** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports
** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...
contracted with Falchi to produce a line of ten lower priced bags, using synthetic materials, that were sold at Target stores in November and December 2009.[
]
Personal
Falchi was married to his first wife Mary LaMosse, from Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the early 70s and later divorced. He was married 25 years to his wife, Missy, whom he met while she was working for the special events office in a Neiman Marcus in Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
. They have two daughters: Kate, who is a designer with her father's company, and Juliet, who works for Estée Lauder.[
]
References
https://www.carlosfalchi.com/pages/carlos-falchi-bio
*https://web.archive.org/web/20090508095653/http://www.carlosfalchionline.com/ourstory
*http://www.cfda.com/index.php?option=com_cfda_content&task=members_display&user_name=CarlosFalchi
*http://www.just-style.com/article.aspx?id=104156
*https://web.archive.org/web/20090503082857/http://www.bagsnob.com/2009/04/carlos_falchi_celebrates_30_ye.html
*
*http://investing.businessweek.com/research/markets/news/article.asp?docKey=600-200905131056BIZWIRE_USPR_____BW5855-46UJEC70FG4TJ9QG3BV94OCO62¶ms=timestamp, , 05/13/2009%2010:56%20AM%20ET, , headline, , Carlos%20Falchi(R)%20Brand%20Begins%20New%20Chapter, , docSource, , Business%20Wire, , provider, , ACQUIREMEDIA Carlos Falchi(R) Brand Begins New Chapter businessweek 13 May 2009
*https://web.archive.org/web/20090425202751/http://www.style.com/stylefile/2009/04/carlos-falchi-made-in-the-usa/
Brazilian designers
1944 births
2015 deaths
{{Brazil-bio-stub