Emmanuelle Khanh

Emmanuelle Khanh (1937–2017) was a French fashion designer, stylist and former model. She was particularly known for her distinctive outsize eyewear, and was considered one of the leading young designers of the 1960s New Wave movement in France.

Born Renée Georgette Jeanne Mézière in Paris on September 12, 1937, and nicknamed Nono, her father René worked for the French Resistance newspaper Combat. Her mother, Ernestine, died when Renée was 10 years old.

In 1957 she married the designer Nyguen Manh Khanh, known for his inflatable furniture.

Renée decided to become a fashion model after graduating from business school, and subsequently became a fitting model for Cristóbal Balenciaga. At this point she assumed the professional name Emmanuelle. She also modelled for Hubert de Givenchy. After four years, she quit modelling in order to pursue a career in fashion design. The hairdresser Vidal Sassoon described the 5 foot 6 Khanh as "the epitome of why men loved French girls," with her "slim and exotic" looks.

In 1962, Khanh and Christiane Bailly launched their first collection under the label Emma Christie, which was retailed through popular Paris boutiques. Khanh rapidly became a leading name in Paris young fashion, and was compared to Mary Quant. Like Quant and the London Mod movement, Khanh was seen as a leading name in the French New Wave movement.

In 1963, she was described as knowing exactly what young women wanted, selling her clothing in both Britain and the United States. By 1964, her business fetched $4 million a year, and she was credited with having brought "class and status" to the French ready-made clothing industry. Also in 1964, she signed an exclusive contract with the New York City department store Henri Bendel, and also sold clothing through Macy's "Little Shop" boutiques. Around this time, she launched the London-based hairstylist Vidal Sassoon in Paris by asking him to do the hair for a fashion show in the early 1960s. The models, who wore snugly fitting James Wedge hats, pulled off the hats at the end of the show to demonstrate how Sassoon's signature architectural cuts simply fell back into place, which astonished the French press and established Sassoon as a challenge to world-renowned French hairdressing. She also gave a publicity boost to the Italian fashion house Missoni in 1965, when she and Ottavio Missoni collaborated on a knitwear collection. In addition to Missoni, Khanh also designed collections for similarly youth-oriented labels Krizia and Cacharel.

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