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

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, 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

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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

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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

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. 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