PROFILES

Meeting up with Albert Goldberg is always a delight. The designer-tailor carries his 80 years with the confident bearing of a man who has built his life and reputation on unfailing elegance. “He wields a needle like no one else,” his father, a professional tailor, would say. Obviously, you may retort, for the man behind a fashion label that generations of preppies have taken to heart: Façonnable. The name came to him one day when he was playing football on a pitch in the back country; he was barely 20. “I noticed a stone mason’s sign which said façonnerie [stone cutting]. I went to see my father in his Jean Tailleur shop on Rue Paradis in Nice and told him from then on we were going to call ourselves Façonnable. He answered: ‘You can call yourself what you want but I’m John Tailor!’” It might have gone no further if Goldberg junior hadn’t had creativity written into his soul and an intense desire to launch a real brand. “The first Façonnable collection came out in 1962.” In an unprecedented move for the day, he offered a range that dressed men from head to toe – literally: hats down to shoes. Another brilliant idea was his “chic sportswear” positioning, totally new at the time but a style that labels such as Ralph Lauren and Scapa of Scotland later popularised. The adventure continued for 42 years and 84 collections; when the company was sold in 2000 it boasted a turnover of 1.8 billion francs and 500 sales outlets worldwide. What did Goldberg have to prove after that? To others, nothing. To himself? “Whenever I look in the mirror I tell myself: ‘Surprise yourself’!“ Launching the Albert Arts label on the Promenade des Anglais, he embarked on a new adventure with the same energy and passion. Dressing men and women in the finest and most fitting.

Par Alexandre Benoist

Photo Jean-Michel Sordello