Fragrance house

Alexander Julian

Born and raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Alexander Julian opened his first boutique, Alexander’s Ambition, in 1969 at age 21. He moved to New York in 1975 and founded the Alexander Julian Company, developing a national fashion-design career. In 1981, he launched Colours by Alexander Julian, a menswear sportswear line built around color and personally designed textiles. His work became associated with custom fabric development and motifs including argyle and paisley across apparel and home-related designs. The brand’s history identifies Julian as the first American clothing designer to create his own exclusive fabrics, and his textile design entered the Smithsonian’s permanent collection. His influence also reached sportswear: he designed the Charlotte Hornets uniforms in 1988 and redesigned the Charlotte Knights uniforms and stadium in 1990. At the request of UNC coach Dean Smith, he redesigned the Tar Heels men’s basketball uniforms and introduced an argyle side panel before the 1991–92 season. Julian introduced a furniture line in 1994. After expansion to Japan and Europe and later corporate changes, the brand was absent from the U.S. market for several years. Since 2015, Julian and his son Huston have collaborated on a relaunch drawing from the brand’s earlier designs and updating them for new silhouettes.