Max Azria

Short Biography

Max Azria (born 1948) is a Jewish fashion designer of Tunisian descent who founded the popular midscale women`s clothing line BCBG in 1989.Originally from Tunisia, Max Azria was born in Paris where he study acting and then, he entered the fashion industry. Moving to California in the 1980s, he created BCBG, an acronym for the French saying bon chic, bon genre, which in English means "good style, good attitude."Max Azria`s wife Lubov Azria runs all aspects of the company with him, she decides on the style influences for each season and the store decor.BCBG was designed to bring European sophistication to American women. BCBG`s trendy, chic, and unique styles and patterns were immediately popularized in California and throughout the West Coast, becoming particularly favored in Washington, Arizona and Nevada. After the company opened a flagship store in New York City, BCBG became internationally known in the fashion world.Max Azria later created an upscale collection known as The Max Azria Collection sold only through selected company-owned boutique stores, before launching BCBGirls, BCBG//Attitude, To The Max, Parallel and acquiring the Hervé Léger label. The company has recently taken over the Rave, G+G, and Ravegirls stores and created Max Rave - a line of clothes that are for juniors and are accessible at cheaper prices than the couture brands but with the same high quality. The company opened its first freestanding "Max Azria" boutique on Los Angeles` Melrose Avenue in 1993. Newly added are shops in West Palm Beach, New York`s SoHo, Montreal and Southern California`s Newport Beach. More recently the BCBG Max Azria brand sells in the United Kingdom as a concession within Harvey Nichols stores in London, Manchester, Leeds and Edinburgh. BCBG Max Azria also operates stores in France, Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland.Max Azria is popular among many young celebrities including Paris Hilton, Fergie, Lindsay Lohan, Sarah Martineau, Jessica Simpson and Sophia Bush.