Montana, Claude (1949– )

French fashion designer who promoted the broad-shouldered look. He launched his own label in 1979 and was particularly influential during the 1980s. His fashion house closed in 1997.

He began as a jewellery designer in London, returning to Paris in 1971, and becoming an assistant designer in a leather manufacturing company in 1973. His first collections shook the ready-to-wear market, showing wide-shouldered outfits, in black, red, and grey leather, which narrowed sharply at the waist, with slim-fitting skirts or trousers or helmets and chains. In 1984 he moved away from the ‘powerful’ look to design garments in soft, rounded shapes and silk pyjamas which were topped by long satin and velvet robes in bright colours such as coral, absinthe green, lavender, aqua, and rose.