When French fashion designer Christian Lacroix sent his first models down the catwalk in the chic Place Vendome in 1987, it was seen as a seismic event in fashion: it was the first couture house to open in 25 years. After the razzle-dazzle of the 1990s, when Lacroix was the darling of the world's fashion editors, Tuesday's bankruptcy proceedings were a downbeat end to a glittering adventure.
(AFP/File/Pierre Verdy)