Alexander Julian Men's Fashion Brand

Alexander Julian is an American clothing designer widely known for his colors clothing brand and designing his own clothing fabric - colour and cloth, designed by the same hand, are the two signatures the record gives him. In 1975 Julian moved to New York, founding the Alexander Julian Company. In the 1990s Julian consolidated his companies under a venture capital fund, which subsequently liquidated its fashion interests in 1995. That is the arc: a 1975 New York founding, a 1990s consolidation, and a 1995 liquidation of the fund's fashion interests.

A designer known for designing his own fabric is making a specific claim, and it is a plain claim: the colour work begins in the cloth itself, not in styling applied afterwards. For a men's directory that matters, because it separates the Alexander Julian record from labels that buy finished fabric and cut it: here the palette the brand is known for - "his colors" - starts at the textile stage. The relaunch that follows is read against that founding signature.

The Relaunch Collection: History, Translated Forward

The Alexander Julian relaunch collection nods to history but moves forward. Co-designed by Alex and his son, Huston, the selection is a highly-curated cut of the most exciting designs from the 40 year history of the brand - translated into modern silhouettes with a twist of digital innovation. The classic silhouettes, opulent fabrics, and rich palette relive the winsome spirit of Alex's early ascent through the "decadent decade"; the Relaunch Collection updates the look with a broader range of function and versatility.

Read closely, the relaunch is a father-and-son edit of a 40-year archive: the most exciting designs, highly curated, kept in classic silhouettes and opulent fabrics with the rich palette intact, then translated into modern silhouettes with more function and versatility. A shopper meeting the brand through the relaunch is therefore being offered the early colour-and-fabric work in updated cuts, and should judge the pieces on the brand's own terms: whether the palette is rich, the fabrics opulent, and the silhouettes classic beneath their modern translation.

Reading This Alexander Julian Record

In brief: an American designer known for his colours and for designing his own clothing fabric; the move to New York and founding of the Alexander Julian Company in 1975; the 1990s consolidation under a venture capital fund and the 1995 liquidation of its fashion interests; and a relaunch collection co-designed by Alex and his son Huston from 40 years of designs. No sales figures, store list or awards list are given - the colour, the cloth, the dates and the relaunch are the complete picture.

The official Alexander Julian site is linked in this page's References, and the directory pointers - the Men's Fashion Brands index and its further pages, the Fashion Designer Directory, the popular brands section, and the shopping, retail, wholesale, buyers and news areas - are in the navigation and More to Explore list. Alexander Julian, under A: a designer's brand built on colour designed into the fabric itself, closed by its fund in 1995 and relaunched from its own archive by the founder and his son.