About the designer: His early training as a dancer exposed Jean-Louis Scherrer to theatrical costumes and prepared him to design clothes that would suit the public roles of women connected with politics, theatre, and the arts. From an early apprenticeship with Christian Dior in Paris, Scherrer learned the basics of cutting and draping, alongside a young Yves Saint Laurent. When Saint Laurent inherited the house of Dior, Scherrer successfully started his own haute couture establishment during a period when critics foretold the demise of traditional couture. He quickly became known for designs described as classic, restrained, sophisticated, and sexy but not vulgar. His customers read like a roster of the world's wealthiest women: Mme. Anne-Aymone Giscard d'Estaing, wife of the then-President of France, as well as his daughter, Valerie-Anne Montassier; Baronness Thyssen; Olympia and Nadine de Rothschild; Queen Noor, the wife of the then-King of Jordan; Patricia Kennedy Lawford; Isabelle d'Ornano; Ann Getty; Nan Kempner; Françoise Sagan; Michéle Morgan; Raquel Welch; Jacqueline Onassis; and Sophia Loren. In the mid-1970s dozens of American stores, including Bergdorf Goodman in New York, carried Scherrer. Chiffon evening dresses, often accented with sequined embroideries, were a staple, as was deluxe ready-to-wear.