Claude Montana, the star fashion designer of the 1980s, has died at the age of 76

Claude Montana était reconnaissable à son éternel look “Easy Rider” : un blouson, un pantalon de cuir et une paire de santiags. MAXPPP – TONY HAGE

Figure de la mode des années 1980, directeur artistique de Lanvin, créateur de génie… le couturier français Claude Montana est mort ce vendredi 23 février à Paris à l'âge de 76 ans. 

The fashion designer Claude Montana, who had established himself as a fashion figure of the 1980s, before being eclipsed from the catwalks by reversals of fortune, died this Friday, February 23 at the ;age of 76 years, report our colleagues from Franceinfo, citing AFP. 

Palace regular

Revealed in the years 1970, darling of the years 1980, he achieved recognition when he entered the doors of Lanvin in 1990, after having declined Dior's offer to become its artistic director. In quick succession, he collected two Golden Dice , the highest distinction in the world of fashion.

Claude Montana in 1989. MAXPPP – TONY HAGE

Recognizable by its eternal look "Easy Rider"  : a jacket, leather pants and a pair of cowboy boots, Claude Montana created his own brand in 1979. Rather discreet and used to fashionable club evenings ;quot;Le Palace", he had then become one of the star couturiers of Paris.

"I'm a veteran now. I was forgotten

He subsequently went through financial and personal difficulties and disappeared from the spotlight at the turn of the years 2000. In 2008, was beaten up at home by a former go-go dancer picked up in a nightclub. An attack from which he has serious after-effects. He also has to face a sordid trial, where his attacker accuses him of having transmitted hepatitis B to him.

Despite his irrepressible need to create and some episodic returns to the media sphere, Claude Montana had never managed to return to the forefront. "Yes, I miss fashion… terribly”, he confided in 2015 at  Gala. “I'm a veteran now. I was forgotten.