Olivier Strelli born Nissim Israel is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

fashion designer, who put Belgium on the fashion map. His name is now synonymous with a chain of male and female clothing and accessory boutiques in Belgium, Switzerland, France and China. In 2005, Francophone Belgian TV viewers voted Strelli 56th in a list of the 100 greatest Belgians of all time through the show ''

Les plus grands Belges ''Les plus grands Belges'' ( French for "The Greatest Belgians"), is a television show that aired in 2005 on the Belgian French-speaking public channel RTBF. In the program the audience could vote for the greatest Belgian by using the website, se ...

''.

Biography

Strelli was born in 1946 in Kinshasa,

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

the son of

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and

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from the island of

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who had migrated there in the early 20th century. The Congo was at that time

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's great colonial possession and non- African communities included

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and Sephardic-

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

who had fled political unrest in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

. After Congolese Independence, Strelli's family ended up in

where Olivier had studied textile design in Tournai. Based in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

from 1974, he created a line of off-the-peg male fashions and later opened his own boutique. His first full-line collection was shown in the

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season of 1980. Famous clients since have included the Rolling Stones,

Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a former French actress, singer and model. Famous for portraying sexually emancipated characters with hedonistic lifestyles, she was one of the ...

, Stevie Wonder and several members of the Belgian royal family. The yellow coat worn by

Queen Paola Paola (born Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria;AlthougThe Belgian Monarchy websiteattributes the title of "Princess" to Queen Paola prior to marriage, Burke's Peerage 1973, The Descendants of Louis XIII 1999, ''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels'' 200 ...

during the coronation of her husband King Albert II in 1993 was a Strelli original. He has also designed uniforms for Belgian railway staff and for air hostesses of the now-defunct Belgian national airline

Sabena The ''Societé anonyme belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation aérienne'' (French; ), better known by the acronym Sabena or SABENA, was the national airline of Belgium from 1923 to 2001, with its base at Brussels National Airport. After its ba ...

.Sales site offering Strelli-designed Sabena uniforms
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External links

Official website

References

Other notes taken from the biography : ''Olivier Strelli, passion et métissages'', by Élodie de Sélys, published Éditions La Renaissance du Livre, 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Strelli, Olivier 1946 births 20th-century Belgian Jews 21st-century Belgian Jews Belgian Sephardi Jews Democratic Republic of the Congo emigrants to Belgium Belgian people of Greek-Jewish descent Belgian people of Italian-Jewish descent Democratic Republic of the Congo Jews Democratic Republic of the Congo people of Greek-Jewish descent Democratic Republic of the Congo people of Italian descent Living people Belgian fashion designers People from Kinshasa African Sephardi Jews