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Remembering Herve L. Leroux: Top 10 Iconic Images of Herve Leger

Earlier this month the fashion world lost one of the greats, Hervé L. Leroux, founder of the Herve Leger brand and creator of the iconic figure-hugging bandage dress, passed away at age 60 from a ruptured aneurysm. Read on to see our top 10 iconic images of Herve Leger dresses and a glimpse into his life.

From Cindy Crawford and Taylor Swift to Kim Kardashian and Beyonce, celebrities and some of the worlds most beautiful people have worn Hervé Léger’s legendary designs for decades.

Born Hervé Peugnet in 1957 in northern France, Hervé studied sculpture and art history in Paris before leaving school to become a hairdresser, then a hat maker and eventually deciding to pursue fashion design. In the early 1980’s he met Karl Lagerfeld who encouraged his career in fashion and suggested he change his surname to Léger because Peugnet would be too difficult for American’s to pronounce. He became Hervé Léger and after working for fashion houses such as Fendi, Chanel and Lanvin, in 1985 he launched his own namesake line. Then in the early 90’s he created his ticket to fame, one of the defining styles of the decade, the bandage dress. Formed from dozens of elasticated bandage-style strips of knitted cloth, the iconic dress creates a body-sculpting, skintight silhouette.

 
In 2016 Kim Kardashian wrote of the bandage dress on her blog: “I would literally save up all my paychecks and go and wait, and stalk the girls that worked at Hervé and just get all the new colors.”
After receiving great acclaim for the bandage dress and many other original creative designs, in 1998 the Hervé Léger brand was acquired by the Los Angeles-based BCBG Max Azria group. But shortly thereafter by 1999 things turned sour and Hervé lost control of his own name to the group who called the new collection Hervé Léger by Max Azria – a cautionary tale to all in the world of design!

 
In 2000, Hervé took the name Herve L. Leroux, another recommendation from friend Karl Lagerfeld, and founded his own fashion house. From 2004-2006 he served as creative director for the Paris house Guy LaRoche. In 2013 he finally returned to the Paris runway with a new collection, but he never again received the same recognition as he had under his previous name – the power of name at play!
Although not under his own vision, the Hervé Léger lives on. In 2007, Max Azria relaunched the Hervé Léger brand under his own design direction and opened a remodeled Hervé Léger boutique on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.

 
After Hervé’s death entertainer Dita Von Teese wrote a beautiful post on Instagram in remembrance of Hervé which included this insightful sentence: “I loved Hervé for his wit, his candor, his sublime elegance and of course, his talent, which came from authentic obsession, with no care for the commerciality of fashion.”
Cheers to Hervé Léger and a big heartfelt thank you for all that he gave to the world of fashion!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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