Christian Lacroix, the couture designer best known for his signature "pouf" skirt and fantastical fashion of the late 80's and 90's, has succomed to what else, the ECONOMY.

The bankrupt designer was told to cease making haute couture yesterday, by a French court. The court approved a restructuring plan submitted by the label's owner, Florida based Falic-group, and reduces the house to a licensing operation, that will hopefully help pay off the labels current debt. The plan will also close the designer's couture, ready to wear and retail locations, eliminating about 90% of it's workforce.

It's been said that the fashion houses financial ruin is due to Mr. Lacroix's inability to turn his artistic design into a profit.

Jean-Jacques Picart, who helped launch the brand with Lacroix in 1987 and now works for LVMH, said his former colleague had "neither the luck nor the intelligence to find himself a chief executive capable of turning his designs into gold."

There are hopes that a wealthy investor will come in and financially save the day. The Ajman Sheikh, Humaid Bin Rashid Al Nuaimi was expected to be the hero investor to swoop in with 100 million euros and help transform the house into a lifestyle brand. Unfortunately, it was not to be, as the financial guarantees were not submitted on time before the French courts ruling. Until then, I guess the fashion set will have to fill that open slot with another show, and hope that this is only a temporary road bump for the label. I for one hope this is not the end of an era and that his signature "pouf" will live to strut down the runway another day!

My question today is this, how can artisit such as Christian Lacroix survive in this economic climate, do they "sell out" to stay afloat? Please post your comments below, thanks!