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Christa de Carouge

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christa de Carouge
Born6 August 1936
Died17 January 2018
CitizenshipSwitzerland
Occupationfashion designer
Years active1978-2018

Christa de Carouge (born Christa Furrer, 1936-2018) was a Swiss fashion designer.

Biography

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Christa Furrer was born in 1936 in Basel, Switzerland. Her grandparents both worked in a silk ribbons factory. Her father was a cook, and her mother was a seamstress and taught her to sew. Christa Furrer was the oldest of five siblings.[1] Her brother Urs became an artist.[2]

She started working in a clothing store (Monsieur Rudi) in Geneva owned by her husband. After her divorce, in 1978, she created a couture shop in Carouge and endorsed the name Christa de Carouge. She then moved to Zürich where she continued to design clothes.[3][4] She preferred not to use her last name "Furrer" because it sounded exactly like the connotative word "führer".[5]

She died on 17 January 2018.[3][4]

Style

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She conceived comfortable clothes designed for home and travel. She rejected the world of fashion. Mainly inspired by the punk and underground cultures, she favored dark colors, which earned her the nicknames "Die Frau in Schwarz" or "Grande Dame der Schweizer Mode".[3][5] Her approach to couture was deeply rooted in interior design and architecture[6] (including Le Corbusier's approach to modern home design[7]).

In 2003, she temporarily introduced red and yellow in her collections.[7]

Exhibitions

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  • Noir Nero Black Schwarz, Musée des Arts Décoratifs de Lausanne, June-September 1999[8]
  • Kunsthaus de Zug, November-December 2017[6]
  • Post-mortem retrospective, Carouge Museum, October-December 2018[5]

Awards

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  • 2010: Glory-Verleihung in the Style category[9]

Further reading

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  • Bettina Flitner, Alice Schwarzer, Frauen mit Visionen: 50 Europäerinnen, 2004 ISBN 978-3896603579

Filmography

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  • Christa de Carouge - La dame en noir (2019), 55-minute documentary by Remo Hegglin (trailer on Vimeo)

References

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  1. ^ Lietti, Anna (1998-09-05). "Christa Furrer, styliste, fille de Claire et d'Adelrich - Le Temps" (in French). ISSN 1423-3967. Retrieved 2024-01-29.
  2. ^ Sachse, Gudrun (2021-05-04). ""Urs ist wieder auf der Suche"". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in Swiss High German). ISSN 0376-6829. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
  3. ^ a b c "Feu Christa de Carouge, styliste et «parfois aussi un peu psychiatre» - Le Temps" (in French). 2018-01-18. ISSN 1423-3967. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
  4. ^ a b "La créatrice de mode Christa de Carouge est décédée". rts.ch (in French). 2018-01-17. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
  5. ^ a b c "Une exposition met la créatrice de mode Christa de Carouge à l'honneur". rts.ch (in French). 2018-10-05. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
  6. ^ a b "3 questions à Christa de Carouge, designer de mode suisse". Femina (in Swiss French). 2017-11-13. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
  7. ^ a b "Christa de Carouge: Keine Mode, sondern Stil". SWI swissinfo.ch (in German). 2004-06-24. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
  8. ^ Ricci Lempen, Silvia (1999-06-11). "Le noir avale la lumière pour mieux en exprimer toutes les émotions - Le Temps" (in French). ISSN 1423-3967. Retrieved 2024-01-29.
  9. ^ "Glorys - Das sind die Gewinner der Glorys 2010". Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) (in German). 2010-12-18. Retrieved 2024-01-31.