Cristian Lacroix is a French fashion designer and couturier. He was born in Arles, in southern France. Lacroix studied Art History in Montpellier, following his utter interest in historical clothing, which he used to sketch from a very young age. He then moved to Paris to enroll at the prestigious Sorbonne; while working on a dissertation on dress in French 18th-century painting, Lacroix also pursued a program in museum studies at the École du Louvre.

Even though interested in matters such as museum and curatorial studies, fashion turned out to be the driving force of his life: in 1975, he opened his own haute couture house. His background in historical costume, as well as his interest in folklore and regional traditions, influenced Lacroix’s style, characterized by rich embellishments, prints, and wide volumes, of which the short puffball skirt, called “le pouf”, often worn with a corset to emphasize its form, is a symbol.