Michael Kors (born as Karl Anderson, Jr. on August 9, 1959) is an American fashion designer. He is best known for designing classic American sportswear for women.Michael Kors (born as Karl Anderson, Jr. on August 9, 1959) is an American fashion designer. He is best known for designing classic American sportswear for women.
Personal life
Kors was born Karl Anderson, Jr. on Long Island, New York, the son of Joan Hamburger, a former model, and her first husband, Karl Anderson, a college student. When his mother remarried when he was five, he was told he could change his name, and he chose to become Michael David Kors. He grew up in Merrick, New York and graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore, New York. Kors' mother is Jewish. Kors currently resides in New York City and married his longtime partner Lance LePere in Southampton, New York on August 16, 2011.
Career
Michael Kors began designing clothes at the age of 19 and studied fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. In 1981, Kors launched the Michael Kors womenswear line at Bloomingdales, Bergdorf Goodman, Lord & Taylor, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue. Building on his success, Kors was named the first ever women's ready-to-wear designer and creative director for the French fashion house Celine in 1997. In his tenure at Celine, Kors turned the fashion house around with blockbuster accessories and a critically acclaimed ready-to-wear line. Kors left Celine in October 2003 to concentrate on his own brand. Kors launched his menswear line in 2002.
In addition to the Michael Kors runway collection, the MICHAEL Michael Kors and KORS Michael Kors lines were launched in 2004. KORS is considered the mid-tier line, between the runway and MICHAEL collections. The MICHAEL line includes women's handbags and shoes as well as women's ready-to-wear apparel. The KORS line contains footwear and Jeans. Currently, Kors has full collection boutiques in New York, Beverly Hills, Palm Beach, Manhasset, and Chicago. This year, Michael Kors celebrates 30 years in business.
Among the celebrities who have worn Michael Kors' designs are Jennifer Lopez, Rachel McAdams, Michelle Obama, Elissa, Heidi Klum, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Joan Allen wore his gown when she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the The Contender. In addition, Jennifer Garner wore a custom creation as an Academy Award presenter in 2006. As Creative Director of Celine, Michael Kors designed many outfits for actresses to wear on screen. Gwyneth Paltrow wore Kors' designs in the movie Possession. Cate Blanchett also wore his clothes in the movie Bandits. In addition, he outfitted Rene Russo's character in the 1999 hit remake of The Thomas Crown Affair. Elissa wore his dress in the World Music Awards 2005. The ad campaigns for Michael Kors often reflects the jet-set sportswear that Kors fans are fond of. Previous campaigns include the model Carmen Kass on the tarmac of an airport, on a safari in Africa, and relaxing on a yacht.
Kors is a judge on the Emmy-nominated reality television program Project Runway, which aired on Bravo for five seasons; subsequent seasons aired on Lifetime.
In December 2011, Michael Kors Holdings, a Hong Kong based company, filed with the SEC to raise $751 million in a US initial public offering.
Other honors
In 2010, Kors received the Oliver R. Grace Award for Distinguished Service in Advancing Cancer Research, an annual honor bestowed by the Cancer Research Institute, a U.S. nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing immune system-based treatments for cancer. He received the honor at a black-tie ceremony held June 16, 2010 at The Mandarin Oriental in New York City. In June 2010, Kors was the youngest recipient ever of the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the CFDA and received the Fragrance Foundation’s FiFi Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Legal issues
In January 2009, the estate of artist/designer Tony Duquette sued Kors for trademark infringement after Kors allegedly used Duquette's name and images in promoting Kors' 2009 resortwear collection.
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