Jean Touitou

Touitou was born on December 10, 1951 to a Tunisian Jewish family. He was then "a revolutionary militant for a few years".[2] He arrived in Paris from Tunisia with his family in 1960 at age 9;[2] he studied at L’Ecole Alsacienne, and earned a degree in history and geography from the Sorbonne and travelled a while in South America and the United States.

Touitou's first role in the fashion industry was landing an entry-level job "by accident";[3] upon his return in Paris, he gets close to a group working around the designer Takada Kenzo and started working for him in 1977.[4]

After a few years working as a warehouseman and an accountant, he started working at Agnès b. in 1985, he associated with Irié, a Japanese designer working in Paris.[5]

In 1987, Jean Touitou launches A.P.C. (Atelier de Production et de Création) with a menswear collection baptized HIVER 87.[6]

Female customers quickly showed interest for this menswear collection. The following year, the collection thus became unisex. In 1989, the labels referring to the seasons were replaced with A.P.C. labels, confirming the creation of the brand located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris.

The first pieces of the A.P.C. collections are characterized by several aspects that are still constitutive of the brands’ identity: inspiration taken from work or military clothes, the preeminence of classic and unmixed fabrics (Shetland wool for instance), as well as voluntarily traditional cuts. The collection would later include the raw Japanese denim.

In thirty years of existence, A.P.C. has remained independent and has developed internationally, with more than 70 points of sale over the globe and 350 employees.

Jean Touitou works alongside with his wife, Judith Touitou, artistic director of A.P.C.

• 1992 : Winner of the ANDAM award[7]

Touitou opened a private kindergarten Ateliers de la Petite Enfance (A.P.E.) in 2008.[8]

• Rules of Style from Jean Touitou Phane Gallois, details.com January 2008