Charles James
(1906-1978)
Charles Wilson Brega James was born on July 18, 1906, in Sandhurst, England. He was educated at Harrow, a British public school, and briefly attended the University of Bordeaux. He sculpted hats directly on
the heads of clients in the shop he had named after a school friend, Charles. Boucheron.
He relocated to New York City where he began to have his hats merchandised through a prominent department store of the time, and began designing dresses. James showed his first collection in 1928. The following year he began dividing his time between New York and London. In 1934 and 1935, James worked in Paris under the patronage of Paul Poiret, designing fabrics for French textile manufacturers Colcombet.
In 1940 Charles James opened Charles James, Inc., at 64 East Fifty-Seventh Street, New York City. He began designing collections for Elizabeth Arden and redesigning her couture collection in 1944. When he left Arden, he established himself at 699 Madison Avenue. James launched one of his most successful collections in Paris in 1947. He is most famous for his sculpted ball gowns made in lavish fabrics and to exacting tailoring standards, but is also remembered for his capes and coats, often trimmed with fur and embroidery, his spiral zipped dresses, and his with satin quilted jackets.
In 1952 he began designing dresses and separates for Seventh Avenue’s Samuel Winston; and suits and coats for William Popper that were retailed by Lord and Taylor. In 1953, James designed furs for Gunther Jaeckel and belts for Bruno Belt. In 1954, he added a line of jewelry to be manufactured by Albert Weiss. James retired in 1958.
Charles James died at the Chelsea Hotel in New York, in 1978. Balenciaga saw James as the greatest and best American couturier.
