Lacroix in a state of grace South. Colours that sing and prints that vibrate. References to the frilly petticoats of Arles, the waist cinched like that of a toreador. And black lace mantillas reminiscent of Spanish women.

Christian Lacroix’s style was immediately personal right from his first couture collection for fall-winter 1987-88, and that stamp has been indelible since.

View Christian Lacroix's photos from the show

This winter, Lacroix marks the 15th anniversary of his couture house with a limited-edition collection with ex-voto and Byzantine crosses

Adulated from the start, so necessarily incensed later, Christian Lacroix has experienced ups and downs since the moment in 1987 when he decided he wanted to step out of other peoples’ shadows.

Born in Arles in 1951, Lacroix always had a passion for drawing. Concurrently to his studies at the Sorbonne, he took classes at the Louvre, wrote an essay on XVIIth century costume, and participated in the Museum Curators competition. In 1978, he learned the basics of fashion when he started working at Hermès as assistant to Guy Paulin. After three years, he went on to Jean Patou and tackled the couture challenge for that house so successfully that it won the Dé d’Or. The following year, he received the award of “most influent foreign design” from the CFDA.

He then met Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, and, together with with Jean-Jacques Picart (his invaluable sidekick for more than ten years), the trio open the House of Christian Lacroix. The first collection was dedicated to Lacroix’s cherished South. There was a standing ovation for the new Enfant chéri of the fashion world. Editors were mesmerized and wanted more.

Season after season, “Saint-Christian” interpreted his touching vision of the South of France and of the Spain of Carmen. Dominated by red and fuchsia, the most audacious colours were mixed and matched in a profusion of silk and taffeta. These dresses may not have been accessible to all women, but they fueled all women’s dreams.

But Christian was also dreaming, and did not realize that times had changed. After the excesses of the Eighties, minimalism in shades of beige and grey was the key influence at the beginning of the next decade. The American press that had lauded Lacroix’s creations began to shun him.

A true designer is one who knows how to make a comeback. This fall’s ready-to-wear collection in dark hues of black and wine warmed up by greyed blues shows another side of the South. But it’s the couture collection that really shines in celebration of the designer’s 15th anniversary. Layers of chiffon in a multitude of colours, lace, embroidery and sequins… it’s as though the designer never stops embellishing his creations; a thousand ideas, a myriad of details that push the limits of ornamentation. Saga mink and fox are lavishly featured in his collection, partly sheared, most dyed. There are fur coats with huge collars, cinched waists and unfinished hems as if the skin was used in its natural state. Each garment in the collection is so breathtaking that the entire audience tossed him the red carnations he had offered each guest. Everyone’s anxious to see what kind of magic he will operate for Pucci, where Bernard Arnaud recently named him artistic director.