"You cannot improvise couture. It is linked to a tradition, a craft and the excellence of expertise." Emanuel Ungaro
Emanuel Ungaro was born in France to Italian parents in 1933. He learned to sew from his father, who was a tailor in Aix-en-Provence.
At 22, Ungaro moved to Paris, and he began designing for Balenciaga at 25. He designed for Balenciaga for six years and then for Courreges before opening his own design house.
Ungaro launched his menswear lines in 1973, and expanded into perfumes in 1983. He received the Neiman Marcus Award, the Golden Thimble Award twice, and the Dallas Fashion Award twice. Ungaro's clothes are known for bold mixtures of pattern and color, with precise cuts and silhouettes that show off the figure.
Ungaro stepped down from management of the design house in 2001, although he still designed the haute couture collections. Ungaro's role was intially filled by Giambatista Valli, who has since left to found his own label. Valli was replaced by Vincent Darre, who had been the chief designer for Moschino. Peter Dundas (formerly of Jean Paul Gaultier, Christian Lacroix, and Roberto Cavalli) is the current head designer, and Ungaro has now retired altogether from designing.