Cacheral Dress Section:
Jean Henri Bousquet is the man behind the house of Cacharel. Born in Nimes, France in 1932, Jean Henri Bousquet began his design career in 1947, at the age of 15, as an apprentice tailor. In 1951 he studied at the Ecole Technique, in Nimes.
In 1956, Bousquet moved to Paris and worked as a cutter/stylist for Jean Jourdan. Two years later, he opened a small atelier where he made shirts for men. He gave the name of his new fashion house Cacharel after a species of wild duck. Shortly afterwards, he stopped making clothes for men and started a company designing clothes for women.
In the early 60's he introduced a highly successful women's blouse based on a man's shirt and made up in a fabric similar to nightwear. A year after that, he produced a blouse constructed without bust darts. The result was a best-selling fitted shirt. In 1965, he signed an agreement with Liberty to use it's floral designs in his own contemporary colourways.
Cacharel became known for semi-casual, matching separates which captured the Zeitgeist by bringing relaxed styles into broader use. Jean Henri Bousquet's culotte skirts and gabardine mini skirts with three pleats at each side, were very popular, worn with short, tight, brightly coloured Shetland sweaters over delicately printed shirts and blouses with embroidered collars. This style of dressing was widely copied.
During the 70's, Cacharel introduced its ready-to-wear designs with bolder more colourful patterns, many of which were inspired by the prints and weaves of Africa and the far East. Cacharel's aim was to represent a wild, free image which rejected the formality of clothing favoured by older generations.
