Hervé Leroux, legendary designer and creator of the bandage dress that was emblematic of the 1990s and 2000s has died at 60. The Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode released a statement on Friday.
The French designer worked for Fendi and Chanel before launching his own label, Hervé Léger, in 1985. He mastered the art of the bandage dress, which became iconic for supermodels, 2000s starlets, and the cast of Gossip Girl. A New York Times review in 1993 described “elastic strips of fabric sewn together to make girdle-tight dresses.” The Hervé Léger brand was acquired by BCBG Max Azria in 1999, when Leroux lost commercial use of his name.
Leroux continued to design for celebrities such as Cate Blanchett, Jessica Chastain, Dita Von Teese, and Taylor Swift. Von Teese posted on Instagram, “I loved him 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.”
