Fashion designer Zac Posen has been tapped to help resurrect the Charles James brand after Harvey Weinstein bought the rights to the label last spring.
British-American couturier James, known for his sculptural ball gowns, died in 1978, and an exhibit of his work was displayed at the MoMA’s Costume Institute last year to open the Anna Wintour Costume Center.
On the day of last year’s Met Gala, Weinstein announced he was buying the James label from the designer’s children.
Weinstein’s wife, Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman, co-founder Keren Craig, as well as Chapman’s brother, Marchesa CEO Edward Chapman, have been “retained as creative consultants,” and we hear the group has also hired Posen to consult.
Posen’s well-tailored handmade gowns are red-carpet staples, and Naomi Campbell closed his New York Fashion Week show in a scene-stealing sculptural pink glitter ball gown.
Style.com even predictively wrote in September 2013 of the two designers’ similarities: “If James has a spiritual descendant, it’s Zac Posen, whose devotion to occasion dressing is immune to trend.”
Reps for Posen and Weinstein had no comment.