Chapel Hill native and fashion designer Alexander Julian was born on Feb. 8, 1948. His notable designs have won him five Coty American Fashion Critics’ Awards. Julian has also made waves with his work in sports uniform design.
Early Life
Julian grew up working in his father’s clothing store on Franklin St., Julian’s, and when he was 19, he opened his own store called Alexander’s Ambition. In 1975 he closed Alexander’s Ambition and moved to New York in hopes of winning a Coty Award before age 30.[1]
Professional Career
Once in New York, Julian founded the Alexander Julian Company and showed his first collection; two years later he became the youngest person to win the Coty American Fashion Critics’ Award. [2]
Before the age of 40, Julian had received two Cutty Sark Menswear Awards as well as the Cutty Sark Careers Achievement Award.[1] In 1981, he became one of the first to win the Council of Fashion Designers of America Fashion Award.[3]
Julian was the first designer to create his own fabrics and his line, “Colours by Alexander Julian,” is known for introducing color to menswear.[4] His original textile design is now part of the Smithsonian Institution’s permanent collection.[1]
Julian’s other awards include the Men’s Woolknit Design Award, won in 1981, and the Forrest L. Dimmick Award for Excellence in Color Marketing, awarded by the Color Marketing Group in 1998.[2]
Sports Design
In 1985, the NBA awarded a franchise to entrepreneur George Shinn and the city of Charlotte, N.C. The team that would come to be known as the Charlotte Hornets looked to a homegrown hero to break out of the usual mold of NBA uniform. Shinn contacted Julian if he would want to be the first professional designer to enter the realm of sports uniform design.
He agreed, with only one condition regarding his payment: instead of money, his payment would be a monthly five-pound shipment of Carolina barbecue to his home in New York. “After all, what good is money except to buy Carolina barbecue?” Julian said.[5]
The result was a brave venture into teal, pinstripes and pleated shorts, which would begin the craze over the color that continued well into the the 1990s.
Legendary UNC-Chapel Hill men’s basketball head coach Dean Smith called upon Julian for his talents for a uniform change in 1991. “When Dean Smith asks you to design uniforms, it’s a little like God calling you up to ask you for some new outfits for the archangels,” Julian said.
Adding a bolder trim, new fabrics and his trademark argyle pattern to the side panel of the jerseys, Julian created a design that would establish his place in Carolina basketball history.[6]
References
1. About Alexander Julian, Julians.com - http://www.julianstyle.com/history.php?categorie_id=24
2. Julian, Alexander online encyclopedia - http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/1776/Julian-Alexander.html
3. Council of Fashion Designers of America Fashion Awards - http://cfda.com/cfda-fashion-awards#past-winners
4. Decorated designer Julian to share secrets to success | unc.edu - http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/apr97/julian.html
5. Charlotte Hornets dressed to dribble | SunSentinel.com - http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1989-02-12/features/8901080954_1_coty-award-alexander-julian-fashion-designers
6. Designer Alexander Julian stays close to Carolina roots | Spartanburg Herald-Journal - http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19940307&id=mrEeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Oc8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=7004,2145535
