Chris Benz is an American

fashion designer Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

. He gained early recognition as a recipient of a CFDA scholarship while attending

Parsons School of Design Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatt ...

. Benz interned with

Marc Jacobs Marc Jacobs (born April 9, 1963) is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was d ...

in college, then worked at

J.Crew J.Crew Group, Inc., is an American multi-brand, multi-channel, specialty retailer. The company offers an assortment of women's, men's, and children's apparel and accessories, including swimwear, outerwear, lounge-wear, bags, sweaters, denim, dr ...

, before launching his own collection in 2007. His signatures include use of color, texture and prints, as well as subversion of traditional dressmaking codes and techniques. His collection is available in stores throughout United States, Canada, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. He was inducted into the CFDA in 2009. Eric Wilson, fashion reporter for The New York Times, singled him out among fashion's "newest darlings" and said the collection "may be the best example of the heightened level of sophistication that is expected of new designers today." Benz's clothes are frequently featured in ''Vogue'', ''Elle'', ''Glamour'', and other publications. In addition to his own fashion line, Benz has partnered with

Moscot MOSCOT is a five-generation, family-owned, American luxury eyewear brand, headquartered in New York City, specializing in optical frames and sunglasses. It was founded in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan in 1915 by Hyman Moscot, wh ...

, the eyewear company, to design a line of frames, and

Lancôme Lancôme () is a French luxury perfumes and cosmetics house that distributes products internationally. Lancôme is part of the L'Oréal Luxury Products division, which is its parent company and offers luxury skin care, fragrances, and makeup at ...

to design the "Chris & Tell" Lipstick. He also has a partnership with

Redken Redken is an American hair care brand owned by L'Oréal Group under the Professional Products division. History The company was founded in 1960 by Jheri Redding and Paula Kent, thus the name, "Red-ken." Redken pioneered the "Scientific Approach ...

. Benz has made numerous television appearances, included among them as a guest judge on

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels *Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 *Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...

's The Fashion Show: Ultimate Collection and an appearance on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

How to Make It in America ''How to Make It in America'' is an American comedy-drama television series that ran on HBO from February 14, 2010, to November 20, 2011. The series follows the lives of Ben Epstein (Bryan Greenberg) and his friend Cam Calderon (Victor Rasuk) as t ...

. Benz also appeared on Gossip Girl. Chris Benz also had a role in Wes Anderson's 2018 movie Isle of Dogs. He is also a regular columnist for Fashionista.com. Benz also created the clothes for the 2012 Barbie for President doll in the Barbie "I Can Be..." line. Benz collaborated to design character costumes for the animated movie

EPIC Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...

in 2013. On October 30, 2014, Benz was appointed Creative Director of Bill Blass which plans to relaunch during the Spring of 2016. Benz as Creative Director of Bill Blass is "...planning an e-commerce push, collaborations with up-and-coming designers and established artists, an accessories range and, possibly, a line of home goods." An article republished from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' on October 6, 2020 states that Benz has left the company.

References

External links

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Guest Judge of Bravo TV's 'The Fashion ShowAsk Chris column at Fashionista.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benz, Chris 1982 births Living people American fashion designers Fashion designers from Seattle