James Galanos

James Galanos has used his unique talent to dress famous personalities of the international jet set. He was born in Philadelphia, USA, and grew up in New Jersey, while his Greek origin is from the town of Naousa. He was granted a scholarship for the school of Fine Arts in Paris, however there he discovered that his true passion was not painting or sculpture, but fashion. He found his first job in one of the biggest Parisian fashion houses of the time, that of Robert Piguet.

Two years later, he decided to go back to New York, even though his success in Paris was quite significant. In New York, he met Alexis Minotis and Katina Paxinou and they became close friends. Galanos acquired reputation at the end of the 1940s and the beginning of the 1950s, as a protege of Jean Louis, the famous Hollywood designer. 1954 was an important year for James Galanos, as he received the Coty Award and the Neiman-Marcus Award. His reputation was based on the fact that he created pret-a-porter clothes, as if they were haute couture, while at the same time, he embraced simplicity. In 1991 he received the Life Time Achievement Award in Fashion. Many of his designs are exposed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Famous ladies wore Galanos' clothes, among them Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, Jackie Onasis, Elizabeth Taylor, Barbara Streisand, Diana Ross, Nancy Reagan.