Joseph Ribkoff: a golden anniversary for a wow factor label

It is fitting that, for the first of our Frockery Focus pieces, we should feature the glittering career of Canadian designer, Joseph Ribkoff , who this month (November 2007) celebrated 50 golden years in the fashion industry.

 

This memorable milestone was formally marked at the 2007 Montreal Fashion and Design Festival where Ribkoff was held up as “a pillar of the fashion industry, both at home and abroad, who has been serving femininity for more than 50 years.”

 

The now global fashion label started from fairly humble beginnings in Dorval, Quebec, in 1957, when the loss of his job at a local fashion house prompted the young, newly married Joseph Ribkoff to launch his own business venture. Later he would joke that he only started his own business “to avoid getting fired again!”

 

With a natural flair for fashion and a keen instinct for business, Ribkoff started as he was to go on, creating stunning top-end statement designs, while providing unrivalled customer service and successfully meeting the challenges of changing market conditions over half a century. He has never looked back, declaring his clothes to be for women who unashamedly want to stand out from the crowd.

 

Ever popular with discerning fashionistas the world over, Joseph Ribkoff pieces are, without exception, beautiful creations with an undoubted wow factor, as these examples from The Frockery catalogue demonstrate.