Designer was known for ‘60s unisex fashions

Ted Lapidus, 79, the French fashion designer who helped redefine chic with the 1960s unisex look, died Monday at a hospital in Cannes, on the French Riviera. He reportedly had been suffering from pulmonary problems.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in homage to the designer, said Lapidus “democratized French elegance and classicism” and “made fashion accessible to men and women in the street.”

Born Edmond Lapidus on June 23, 1929, in Paris, the son of a tailor, Lapidus created his label in 1951, and in 1963, he became a member of the prestigious Paris fashion club that runs haute couture, La Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture.

The sandy-colored safari suit became emblematic of the modernist Lapidus style, with purist lines that swept the international fashion scene in the 1960s and ‘70s.

Lapidus designed high fashion for only a brief portion of his career, however, preferring to put the accent on accessories early on. Today, the Ted Lapidus label lives mainly through the sale of accessories such as fragrances and watches.

Olivier Lapidus, the designer’s son, continued diversifying the label through new partnerships starting in 1982.