Etienne Aigner

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Etienne Aigner (born November 8, 1904 in Érsekújvár ; † November 5, 2000 in New York City ) was a fashion designer of Hungarian origin who became internationally known primarily for high-quality leather accessories.

Aigner founded in 1950 in New York , the Etienne Aigner, Inc. , which he sold to US investors 1967th For the global market except North America, Aigner granted a license to a German entrepreneur in 1965, who then founded what is now Etienne Aigner AG in Munich . Both the American and the German divisions of the company still exist independently of one another and produce leather goods and fashion items that differ in design and price under the name Etienne Aigner (for the North American market) and Aigner (for worldwide sales except North America) differ from one another and sell them on separate sales markets via their own or franchise shops, specialist retailers and their own online shop .

Founders and companies

Etienne Aigner was born in 1904 in Érsekújvár in the Kingdom of Hungary (now Nové Zámky, Slovakia ) as the son of a lawyer and grew up with two siblings in Budapest . He initially worked as a bookbinder , through which he became familiar with leather processing, and in the 1930s he moved to Paris with his brother Lucien Aigner to initially continue this activity. Aigner switched from the Jewish to the Catholic faith and in 1938 married the French Suzanne Richardot, with whom he had a daughter. During the war, he withdrew with his wife to the French provinces and joined the Resistance . Back in Paris, shortly after World War II , he began making high quality leather bags and belts . Well-known fashion houses such as Christian Dior , Jacques Fath , Lanvin , Rochas or Edward Molyneux bought his designs from him.

In 1950, Aigner moved to New York with his family, including his brother and sister, where he developed, among other things, dark red leather bags with open-edged workmanship and, after some initial difficulties, founded the company named after him. His monogram in the form of an "A" stylized to a horseshoe became famous . Aigner products could then be bought in upscale American retail outlets.

In 1965, Aigner granted its brand name and logo as a license to the German sales representative Heiner Rankl from Landsberg am Lech , who founded Etienne Aigner GmbH as a German company in Munich , which was expanded to Etienne Aigner AG in 1979 and went public in Germany in 1983. In 1972, Etienne Aigner Italy Srl was founded in Italy from Munich and the Aigner range was expanded to include suitcases and shoes, scarves and ties made there. The entry into the cosmetics market took place in 1975 and three years later Aigner women's fashion was added. In 1990 Volkswagen released an "Etienne Aigner" special edition of the VW Golf I Cabrio .

The American division, Etienne Aigner, Inc., was sold by the now 63-year-old Aigner in 1967 to the American company Villager , which expanded its product range to include shoes and accessories. Villager was taken over in 1969 by the American company Jonathan Logan , which expanded the American brand Aigner and was sold to United Merchants & Manufacturers in 1984 . In 1988 Charterhouse Group International , Inc. took over the American company Etienne Aigner for 80 million US dollars, and in 1991 the British Hartstone Group . In 2004 the American Wooster Investments Group bought Etienne Aigner, Inc. Over the years the quality and thus the prices of American Aigner products, which were mass- produced, fell.

While the German division was in the top price and quality class with handcrafted Aigner products in Italy, the American brand Aigner was in the middle to lower price segment and was offered in American department stores in the middle segment such as Macy’s or Lord & Taylor. In the 1990s, Etienne Aigner, Inc. products were manufactured in South America and the Far East. In the 2000s there was a low-priced second line of shoes called EA by Etienne Aigner . Munich-based Aigner AG had made several attempts to take over the American sister brand. It was only after the American company was bought by Australian investors in 2011 that the quality and price level of the American Aigner product range (leather goods, shoes, accessories and, from winter 2013, also women's fashion) was raised, even though the items are made from Italian materials in China . The two companies still work completely separately from each other.

Etienne Aigner died in New York City in 2000. He had nothing to do with the Aigner company since the American division was sold in 1967, but received the license income from the German division. Until his death he lived alternately in New York, Paris and Cannes .

Pronunciation of the brand name

In the German-speaking area the brand name [ eˈtjɛn ˈaign deutschen ] is pronounced , in the English , especially North American , language area one speaks [ eˈtjɛn ʌn'jeɪ ].

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Etienne Aigner , telegraph.co.uk, December 12, 2000
  2. ↑ Etienne Aigner, 95; Designer of Shoes With a Preppy Look , nytimes.com, November 11, 2000
  3. ↑ Etienne Aigner Aims High With Relaunch , wwd.com, November 5, 2012
  4. ↑ The Shopping Channel: Etienne Aigner Chip Tall Boot at The Shopping Channel 582218 , youtube.com, September 13, 2012
personal data
SURNAME Aigner, Etienne
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hungarian fashion designer
DATE OF BIRTH November 8, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Érsekújvár
DATE OF DEATH November 5, 2000
Place of death New York City