Anne Fontaine (brand)
Private | |
Industry | Retail |
Founded | 1993 |
Headquarters | Corporate: Avenue du Canada 14600 Honfleur, France |
Key people | Anne Fontaine, Ari Zlotkin |
Products | Apparel |
Website | www.annefontaine.com |
Anne Fontaine is an international women’s luxury fashion brand, based in France, offering ready-to-wear clothing, shoes, handbags and accessories centered on the classic white shirt.
Anne Fontaine (founder)
Anne Fontaine (born 1 November 1971, Rio de Janeiro) is a Paris-based fashion designer of ready-to-wear for women, businesswoman and ecologist. Fontaine is the creative director of the Anne Fontaine brand and the President of the Anne Fontaine Foundation.
Fontaine’s mother is of Brazilian descent, and father is of French-German descent.
Fontaine, a self-taught fashion designer, met husband Ari Zlotkin in Paris, who is currently President of Anne Fontaine (the company). Fontaine lives in Honfleur with her husband and three children.
Fontaine has been the recipient of several awards, including the French National Order of Merit (French: Ordre national du Mérite) and received the award of l’élan de Mode in 2006 (French Federation of Fashion)[1]
In 2011, Fontaine created the New York-based Anne Fontaine Foundation, to support the protection of endangered forests and promote reforestation. The Foundation’s projects are focused on the Brazilian Atlantic forest, also known as the Mata Atlântica.
History
Fontaine has stated that the inspiration for the company's iconic white shirts came in 1993, when she came upon a trunk filled with shirts in her mother-in-law’s attic. She was inspired by the simplicity and elegance of the white shirt, as well as a desire to preserve the artisanship in France.[2]
Anne Fontaine opened their first boutique in the Rive Gauche section of Paris in 1994. Since the opening of the original store, Anne Fontaine has expanded to 85 boutiques worldwide, including flagships in Paris, Tokyo and New York City, designed in collaboration with designer Andree Putman.[3]
In popular culture
Anne Fontaine was referenced in the French film Les Yeux jaunes des crocodiles. In the film, the character played by the French actress Emmanuelle Béart buys a leather jacket for her niece in one of the Anne Fontaine stores in Paris.
References
- ↑ http://madame.lefigaro.fr/style/gerard-darel-succes-francaise-080607-9028 Gérard Darel, un succès à la française, Le Figaro, 8 June 2007
- ↑ http://awomansparis.com/2012/11/16/french-impressions-anne-fontaines-white-shirts-and-the-color-of-happiness/ A Woman’s Paris, French Impressions, 16 November 2012
- ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/garden/04shows.html New York Times French Design, From a Hotel to the Milky Way, 3 September 2008