page_title: Michael Stars
section_title: The Perfect Tee
hierarchical_section_title: Michael Stars / History / The Perfect Tee
caption_attribution_description: English: Michael Stars Original T-shirts, Mykonos, July 1989
context_page_description: Michael Stars is a Los Angeles-based apparel and lifestyle retail company that offers women’s and men’s fashion, including t-shirts, bottoms, dresses, sweaters, jackets, and accessories. The brand is best known for their t-shirts, which have been worn by celebrities for over two decades. Their clothing is distributed internationally through various department and specialty stores, as well as branded retail stores and its website. The company was founded by husband and wife team Michael Cohen and Suzanne Lerner.
context_section_description: Co-founder Michael Cohen began his career in the apparel industry in his native South Africa, where at the age of 21 he founded the import-export fashion agency Bernstein & Cohen. In 1977 he moved to Los Angeles where he would later meet co-founder Suzanne Lerner. At the time Lerner was running Lerner et Cie, a wholesale fashion showroom she founded in 1983. Cohen was working with contemporary artist John Stars, placing his designs on t-shirts and gifting them to friends. Cohen approached Lerner about representing the brand and in 1986 the two of them launched Michael Stars. Two years later Cohen and Lerner were married.
  In its beginning Michael Stars focused on unisex, one-size fits all t-shirts. The original designs were boxy and decorated in bright colors and interwoven, French-inspired graphics. The brand is recognized as one of the first to start changing the body of the t-shirt, using fitted shapes, cap-sleeves and various silhouettes. The company catapulted to success in the early 1990s, gaining attention from celebrities and exposure on television shows such as Beverly Hills, 90210. At the time the shirts were sold at upscale retailers such as Barneys, Fred Segal and Harrods. The brand has become known for raising the t-shirt in fashion status as well as in quality and price.
caption: Michael Stars Original T-shirts, Mykonos, July 1989
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