‘SENSUAL OBSESSIVE’

French Fashion Designer Emanuel Ungaro Dead at 86

The bold and colorful fashion designer retired from his fashion house in 2005 and criticized the label’s decision to hire Lindsay Lohan as artistic director.

French fashion designer Emanuel Ungaro, who was known for his bold colors and prints, has died in Paris at 86. Ungaro was born in Aix-en-Province in the south of France and founded his fashion house in the 1960s, which he retired from and sold in 2005 to Silicon Valley businessman Asim Abdullah. Ungaro, who described himself as a “sensual obsessive,” was the son of Italian immigrants and trained under world-renowned Spanish designer Cristobal Balenciaga. “Season after season, Emanuel Ungaro dared to be different, combining unexpected yet sensual clashes of bright colours and prints with beautiful draping,” the House of Emanuel Ungaro states on its website. Ungaro’s label thrived in the 1980s and 1990s and was notable for its high turnover of creative staff after he retired. He was specifically critical of the label’s decision to hire Lindsay Lohan as an artistic director, and called the collections she worked on a “disaster.” A family member of Ungaro told the AFP news agency that he had spent the last two years in a “weakened” health state.