Jean-Louis Scherrer Dies in Paris

Jean-Louis Scherrer, the French couturier whose ties extended from Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent to Erik Mortensen and Stéphane Rolland, died this week in Paris. He was 78.

In his prime, as owner of his own design house, Scherrer dressed the likes of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Sophia Loren and French first lady Anne-Aymone Giscard d’Estaing.

His designs were first popularized in America by New York retailer Bergdorf Goodman, which sold them exclusively after Scherrer opened his couture and ready-to-wear business with a store in Paris on the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in 1962.

Before that, he had worked alongside Saint Laurent in the studio of Christian Dior and continued with him when Dior died, in 1957, and Saint Laurent was named successor. After also working for Louis Féraud, Scherrer started his own label.

Despite annual sales of $25 million, his business began to suffer, and he lost control of the company after selling it to Seibu-Saison of Japan in 1990, in a joint venture with Hermès, which dismissed Scherrer two years later. The label was then designed by Mortensen and, from 1997-2007, by Rolland, at which time the fashion line was closed. The Scherrer label remains active in licensed products.