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* With licenses including Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, Bidermann's U.S. arm was a training ground for many of the industry's key executives.
BY WWD STAFF
PARIS - Textile industrialist Maurice Bidermann, who once held licenses for brands including Yves Saint Laurent, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren, has died in Paris at the age of 87, according to family members.
One of the figures implicated in the Elf scandal in the Nineties, Bidermann was found guilty of financial wrongdoing and misuse of company funds.
As news of his death broke in French media, Bidermann's daughter Julia published a black-and-white portrait of him on Instagram alongside a row of black hearts.
Bidermann was born Maurice Zylberberg in Brussels and grew up in France, and his sister was Regine, the well-known Paris disco owner and singer. At 15 years old, he ran away to join the Israeli Army and never had much of a formal education. After returning to France, he entered the men's wear company owned by his uncle in 1950.
Over the years, he learned the business and began purchasing larger factories. Among his first business initiatives outside of France was making suits for the Soviet Union. He then started exploring business in the U.S.
Bidermann built his empire by buying up small, struggling factories and streamlining them so they would be cost efficient. When couturiers began exploring the lucrative men's market, Bidermann was well positioned for production and delivery with a network of factories. He developed a proven track record and a reputation as an aggressive cut-throat competitor.
He received the contract to make suits for the American licensee of Pierre Cardin, and then when that agreement came to an end in 1973, he scored the license worldwide for Yves Saint Laurent men's wear. He subsequently added Calvin Klein men's wear, Daniel Hechter men's wear, Ralph Lauren women's wear and KL and Karl Lagerfeld Sportswear to his stable of...