DESIGN COMPETENCE ESCADA first created spectacular knitwear designs that featured exquisite inlays and appliqués on pullovers and jackets. These earned Margaretha Ley the renowned international Mohair Council for Excellence in Design award and were soon followed by cleverly elaborate leather prints that became all the rage with both merchants and customers. The collections kept getting larger, and the designer team grew with them. Twelve different fashion themes per season, each based on a wide range of different fabrics, were designed to ensure a diversity of styles for individual markets. By this point, the most sought-after Italian and French textiles manufacturers and silk printing companies were working for ESCADA. And weaving and spinning mills as well as Europe’s most innovative printers were developing proprietary threads, fabrics and ESCADA colors for the company. With her very feminine, breathtakingly glamorous cocktail and evening fashions, ESCADA created the distinctive look that has shaped the brand image. The ESCADA collection soon included not only a very exclusive couture line but also an extensive range of accessories such as shoes, bags, small leather accessories and costume jewelry.
THE 90’s The most beautiful supermodels, such as Claudia Schiffer, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Karen Mulder, Paulina Porizkova, Nadja Auermann and Rachel Zimmermann, presented the world of ESCADA in elaborately designed catalogs and ad campaigns, and film stars and other celebrities were frequently seen wearing ESCADA. After Margaretha Ley’s death in 1992, Brian Rennie was appointed as creative director in 1994. Rennie managed the rejuvenation of the brand and its adaptation to the more low-key look of the 1990s, also by launching the ESCADA SPORT line. The brand regained its power with a colorful and sensual „New Elegance“ feel as a playful expression of joie de vivre. In 1998, Hollywood Star Kim Basinger accepted her Oscar in a pistachio-colored satin gown by ESCADA Couture, reconfirming the brand’s international high-class image. By this point, the most sought-after Italian and French
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