page_title: James Galanos
section_title: Mid-1950s – 1998
hierarchical_section_title: James Galanos / Career / Mid-1950s – 1998
caption_attribution_description: Ελληνικά: Φόρεμα μεταξωτό του James Galanos, Νέα Υόρκη. Δεκαετία 1980 2006.6.392 / Συλλογή Πελοποννησιακού Λαογραφικού Ιδρύματος English: Black evening gown with vibrant flower print. James Galanos, American, 1980.
context_page_description: James Galanos was an American fashion designer and couturier.
context_section_description: Galanos gathered some of the most talented craftsmen available in his workrooms; many were trained in Europe or in the costume studios of Hollywood, for whom he continued to design from time to time.  Nondas Keramitsis, Galanos' head tailor, moved to Los Angeles from his native Greece to make women's clothing.  He had heard about Galanos through relatives and soon started working with him in his Los Angeles studio. Keramitsis and a crew of about 22 tailors he oversaw made everything by hand. If Galanos' work was compared to that of anyone else, it was compared to French haute couture. His business was more comparable to a couture house than a ready-to-wear manufacturer; there was a great amount of hand work in each garment, and all of his famous beadwork and embroidery was done by his staff. Galanos always chose fabrics and trimmings personally during trips to Europe and Asia. Though he constantly looked for the best fabrics, Galanos often felt compelled to create his own. So he would make jackets out of different colored ribbons to toss over his chiffon dresses in impressionist colors. Or he would cross black satin ribbons over black lace for the bodices of delicately frothy short evening dresses. He often lined his dresses with silks that other designers used for dresses themselves, and he was always a firm believer in the importance of hidden details. These details made a difference in the feel of the clothes on the body and the hang of the fabric, and his clients all over the world were willing to pay a great deal for them.  Details that were not hidden included sequins, feathers, metallic brocades, and laces. He often balanced his most glittering dresses with quiet tie-dyed velvet sheaths and long, clingy styles in black crepe or crushed velvet. "Galanos: Perfection, and Lots of It," read the headline in The New York Times after Galanos' show of some 200 designs in 1988. "While he travels to Europe for his fabrics – many are the same as those used in the Paris couture collections – most of Galanos's designing is done in California," reported the Times. "His standards are as high as those found anywhere in the world. If a comparison is made, it is usually with the Paris couture. It is reasonably astonishing that an American designer of ready-to-wear should merit that kind of homage over so long a period of time." Fashion designer Gustave Tassell, a long-time friend of Galanos, recalls an occasion when Hubert de Givenchy, the illustrious French couturier, was looking at an inside of a Galanos garment and exclaimed "... we don't make them this well in Paris!" It was precisely this couture quality and the timelessness of Galanos' designs that caused his clients to never part with their gowns and continue wearing them over many years. But it was also the price tag. "Nobody could afford to dress completely with Jimmy," Nancy Reagan once confessed. "I hang on to what I have."
  Galanos was also famous for his exquisite furs. He used mainly mink, sable, lynx, and broadtail and handled the furs imaginatively as if they were fabric. He smocked and quilted the surfaces, nipped the waistlines and used drawstrings, ruffles, and capelets to give a strong fashion slant to all that opulence. He often designed for Peter Dion, the furrier who made sure that the quality of the pelts and the workmanship supported the innovative design. At the top of the line were coats made of lynx bellies, so soft and fluffy they looked airborne. The short style was selling for $200,000, the long one – for $300,000. The fitted coat was a Galanos specialty, successful in almost any fur, including fox. As he did with his ready-to-wear, Galanos also made the hats and other accessories, which included short fur scarves with mink tails hanging from the ends. He showed his coats over stretch tights and bodysuits with satin surfaces. There were unexpected styles as well, like fur shorts, gathered down the sides.  Many sleeves featured the smock quilting that became a Galanos signature. He also had a special feeling for broadtail, the tissue-thin fur with a sle
caption: James Galanos halter floral full length gown. New York 1980s. PFF collection, Nafplion
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