PERTEGAZ

(b. 1918) Manuel Pertegaz is from Spain, where he has lived and worked throughtout his career. When he was twelve he became apprenticed to a tailor, learning the trade of making men's clothing, but he was more interested in women's attire and before long he was dressing the tailor's wife.

In 1942 he established his own design house and salon in Barcelona. He became known as one of the great Spanish couturiers, along with Balenciaga. His clothing was highly structured and tailored, and often austere. He opened a second house in Madrid in 1968, and in the 1970s he began a ready-to-wear line.