Max Azria

Max Azria is married to Lubov Azria, the Chief Creative Officer for ‘BCBG Max Azria Group’. The couple has six children and they reside in Los Angeles, California. His daughter Joyce Azria was named Creative Director of ‘BCB Generation’ in 2009.

Max Azria was born on January 1, 1949, in Sfax, Tunisia, as the youngest of six children to Tunisian Jewish parents. His older brother, Serge Azria, also designs women’s apparel.

When he was thirteen-year-old, his family relocated to the south of France, then to Paris in 1963, where he furthered his education.

While in Paris, the designer developed an interest in textiles, leading to his career in the fashion industry.

Azria began designing women’s clothing in Paris in 1970. After eleven years in the Paris market, he moved to America in 1981 and opened a line of retail stores called Jess, which specialized in hip French clothing.

In 1989, he started his company ‘BCBG Max Azria’, headquartered in California. The name was developed from the French saying, “bon chic bon genre”, meaning “good style good attitude”.

He introduced his first runway collection in 1996, namely, ‘BCBG Max Azria Runway’, at the ‘New York Fashion Week’.

The designer expanded his product line in 1999 by adding a plus size line of clothing for women and incorporating men’s fashion into the ‘BCBG Max Azria’ brand.

Two new collections were introduced in 2004, ‘Max Azria Atelier’ and ‘Max Azria’. The line ‘Max Azria Atelier’ consists of couture gowns created specifically for celebrity clients and red carpet events.

There are over 550 ‘BCBG Max Azria’ boutiques worldwide and his collections are sold in major department stores including ‘Nordstrom’, ‘Saks Fifth Avenue’, ‘Bloomingdale’s’ and ‘Macy’s’ to name a few.

From 1995 to 1997, he won three distinguished awards: ‘California Designer of the Year’ in 1995, ‘Atlanta Designer of the Year’ in 1996, and the ‘Fashion Performance Award’ in 1997.

In 1998, he acquired ‘Herve Leger’ fashion house; this was the first time in fashion history that an American designer attained a French couturier. It wasn’t until 2007 that Azria re-launched the ‘Herve Leger’ label with his own designs, which are popular amongst celebrities and the fashion elite.

This fashion mogul continued to acquire accolades in 2004 and 2005. He was awarded the ‘Hollywood Life’s Breakthrough Award’ in 2004 and the ‘Dallas Fashion Award’ in 2005.

At the 2007 ‘LA Fashion Awards”, he received the ‘Wells Fargo Century Fashion Achievement Award’. This award recognized the designer’s lengthy career in the fashion industry.