Especially now, it’s crazy the amount of collections there are. Who wears all these clothes? Who is going to buy them?”
By contrast, he knows exactly who his loyal clients are; some of them jetting in from abroad just for a fitting and often involving several generations of the same family. “I cater for all the different communities, whether it’s the Greek shipping ladies, English society ladies, the north London Jewish ladies or the Arab princesses,” he says. “It’s right across the age range – from the 17-year-old girls brought in by their mothers for their first gown to the glamorous ladies I used to dress when I started out and who are now in their 70s and 80s.”
Of course, he’s also designed eveningwear for a roster of high-profile clients over the years, including Dame Helen Mirren, Elizabeth McGovern, Helen McCrory and Sheridan Smith.
Casablanca-born Jacques always knew he would become a designer. He remembers being encouraged by his artistic Jewish parents to wear whatever he liked as a child. “My father, who ran a couple of theatre companies and was also a photographer, would have his suits made and his shoes sent over from Paris,” he recalls. “My mother was always in the latest fashions.”
Jacques moved to the UK with his parents and four siblings when he was six, with the family settling in London’s East End, a change in circumstances he describes as going from “riches” to “slightly the rags” before swinging back again. “I remember thinking everything was so dark,” he says of those early days in London. “We arrived in winter and I also remember the excitement of seeing our first snow. It was in the days when snow would be three feet high; we’d never seen anything like it.”
He trained at the London College of Fashion and St Martin’s School of Art and started making silk crepe de chine shirts for men as a student. His career was launched, almost overnight, when Brown’s bought his entire first collection. He acknowledges that his own swift trajectory in the industry is not something that young designers today could hope to emulate. “I could walk into Harvey Nichols with six dresses and ask to see the buyer and there would be one person to see,” he says. “I could go to Vogue and see Grace Coddington [then photo editor]. I would just walk in and say, ‘Is Grace here?’ And I would show her a dress. The sad thing is you have to go through an army of people to get to that person today; all completely unnecessary.”
Are there any upcoming British designers he particularly rates? “At the moment, not really,” he says with characteristic candour. “There’s nobody that consistent with a signature. I think that’s why we’ve still got all the old labels – Helmut Lang is coming back because they have a certain signature. I don’t know if it’s a fault of the fashion colleges, saying to these designers: ‘
You’ve got to be Alexander McQueen’. There’s been one Alexander McQueen in the past 30 years. They do train designers in that sort of McQueen/Vivienne Westwood style. I think that’s what they think British design is about but the reality is, who else has come up between them?”
While Jacques has always steered clear of slavishly following trends and tends to revisit old classics, such as the dazzling red cape in the current collection which first made an appearance 20 years ago, this doesn’t mean the Azagury brand, renowned for its impeccable fit and cut, has remained static. “We always have something new for the season trend-wise,” he points out. “But because we don’t do a catwalk show, we don’t have to make them quite so ridiculous. We are not after that front page the next morning. They are trend driven but wearable; really, what women want.”
In response to customer demand, Jacques has introduced Azagury Finds, a collection of curated pieces selected by him and Solange and priced between £75 and £390. The range, which includes sequinned hoodies, tulle skirts and cashmere sweaters and is aimed at a younger market, is regularly refreshed with brother and sister making buying trips to Paris every six weeks or so. “We just pick pieces we like and that we think will fit into our store,” says Jacques. “We don’t want what Harvey Nichols or Harrods have, because what’s the point? We try to find new things, and when we come back we think ‘Oh my God’, everything goes with everything. Customers who come in for fittings will pick up a few pieces as well, either for holidays or casual parties.”
He has also introduced a capsule wedding collection, which makes perfect sense considering he’s often asked to dress brides and their mothers. “With loyal customers, I can’t say no, I have to do it,” he explains. “Now we’ve done a range of six dresses, which we can customise. I enjoy doing them but we don’t make hundreds, for sure!” While the current industry buzzword is “sustainability”, Jacques insists he has been mindful of excessive production and consumption for many years.