Michael Kors launched his first womenswear collection in 1981.
Kors introduced the Michael Kors women’s label at Bergdorf Goodman in New York. The launch followed his early experience in fashion retail and visual presentation, including work at the boutique Lothar’s, located across from Bergdorf Goodman. Although he studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology, he left after nine months and developed his career through hands-on design work.
The 1981 launch established the designer’s namesake womenswear business. It should not be confused with the later KORS Michael Kors line, which the company launched as a licensee in 1990. That lower-priced direction was later interrupted by a 1993 Chapter 11 filing and eventually relaunched.
Kors expanded his fashion career beyond his own label. He became the first women’s ready-to-wear designer for Celine in 1997, launched menswear for his own company in 2002, and later built a much broader business around accessories, footwear, watches, and fragrance. The year 1981 therefore marks the beginning of his original womenswear label, not the later mass-market expansion.