Emanuel Ungaro

We purchase the majority of our stock through estate sales, and this is a label we see often coming out of the closets of upper class ladies who were in their prime in the 1980s. 

Emanuel was born in France in 1933. His father was an Italian tailor who taught him to sew at a young age. At age 25, Emanuel was designing for Cristobal Balenciaga where he mastered draping and couture. At 28, he was working for Andre Courrèges. At 32, in 1965, he opened his own house in Paris and debuted a collection of 17 dresses. Some of his first clients included Jackie O and Marie-Hélène de Rothschild. He opened a store on Avenue Montaigne in 1967. The designer told WWD in 2001 that “It was madness. Everybody had worked three days straight without sleep” in anticipation of the opening.

Catherine Deneuve was dressed by him for her film Manon 70 in 1968. 

During the mid to late 60s, Ungaro was considered one of the Space Age designers. He was creating ultra modern, simplistic clothing designs with mini lengths, geometric shapes, and incorporating plastics and metals. He was strongly influenced by his former employer Courrèges. 

His ready to wear line Parallèle launched in 1968. We sold the velvet cape below earlier this year. It is from the Parallèle line and dated to the 60s, so it has to be from one of the first collections of that line. 

He launched a menswear collection in 1973 and was a participant in The Battle of Versailles that year. 

His designs in the 1970s were notable for their mixture of colourful prints. He promoted the Big Look or Soft Look of the mid 70s with voluminous, layered styles. 

He dressed Gena Rowlands in the 1980 John Cassavetes film Gloria. 

He achieved huge success in the 1980s by adapting the big shoulders and narrow skirts popular at the time. He incorporated Edwardian influences, shirring, ruching, draping, eye catching prints and shocking colours into his designs, creating a voluptuous feminine look. 

He married in 1988 and launched a lower priced label called Ter which ran until 1991. 

Some lines not designed by Ungaro himself were launched in the 90s including ‘Emanuel by Emanuel Ungaro’, ‘Emanuel Petite’ and ‘Ungaro Woman’. 

“I’ve been through ups and downs in my business,” he admitted. “There have been periods of fantastic success. The time during the terrorism of minimalism (the 90s) was a low period for me. But I’ve always stuck to my guns. I’ve never capitulated. I couldn’t do otherwise. That’s my personality. Integrity is very important — and dignity.” -WWD.

He received no outside investment for 30 years until 1996 when the Salvatore Ferragamo Group bought into the company. Giambatista Valli took over as creative director from 1998 to 2004 and revitalized the brand. Ungaro retired in 2005 and sold the company. After the sale, there were many different designers including Vincent Darré, Peter Dundas, Esteban Cortazar and Estrella Archs (with Lindsay Lohan as artistic director).

The runway collection was losing money every year. In 2010, Giles Deacon was hired and then Fausto Puglisi in 2012 and Marco Colagrossi in 2017. 

Ungaro died in 2019 at age 86. 

Ungaro currently functions more as a heritage brand with ample licensing deals, rather than being at the cutting edge of fashion. The artistic director as of 2026 is Kobi Halperin. However, it was recently acquired by celebrity stylist Law Roach and is in the process of a massive restructuring. 

We have a few Ungaro tops and patterns in the shop and we will be adding more as the opportunity arises, so be sure to check back if you're looking for vintage Ungaro. 

Shop for vintage Emanuel Ungaro here.