Marc Bouwer

• Name — Marc Bouwer • Born — 5 July 1959 • Birthplace — Johannesburg, South Africa • Other Names — Marc Bouwer • Occupation — fashion designer

Bouwer was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He developed an interest in fashion at a young age and began making dresses as a teenager. In 1978, while studying fashion, he won the South African Vogue Young Designers Award.

Bouwer moved to New York City in 1980 to pursue a career in fashion. He worked as a draper for Halston before designing sweaters for Clovis Ruffin.. After working for Halston and Clovis Ruffin, Bouwer began developing eveningwear under his own name. By 1983, Women's Wear Daily reported that his namesake line had grown into a $2 million business within two years, with clients including Victoria Principal, Lesley Ann Warren and Dinah Shore. His designs were sold through major American retailers, including Saks Fifth Avenue, and his work was noted for its fluid draping and use of fabrics including cashmere and matte jersey. In 1984, Bouwer was commissioned to design clothing for Morgan Fairchild for the television series Paper Dolls. By the late 1980s, his work had become associated with body-conscious silhouettes and stretch fabrics; a 1987 Los Angeles Times profile described his approach as "nouvelle couture" and reported that his line was carried by Neiman Marcus and Giorgio. In 1988, The New York Times singled out a black sequined Bouwer dress as "the evening's sensation" at a New York Academy of Art benefit. In 1990, Bouwer launched Marc Bouwer Couture with business partner Paul Margolin. During the 1990s, Bouwer became increasingly associated with dressing performers and other public figures, developing long-term working relationships with clients including Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton and Patti LaBelle.

Bouwer developed a long-running design relationship with Whitney Houston, creating stage and performance clothing for the singer. By 1997, People reported that Houston owned approximately 500 of his designs. Bouwer also designed the gown Houston wore for her 1992 wedding to Bobby Brown. The Victoria and Albert Museum has noted that Bouwer's stage designs for Houston were constructed to accommodate the physical demands of performance, including freedom of movement and avoiding pressure around the singer's diaphragm and vocal cords.

In 2004, Angelina Jolie wore a white satin gown by Bouwer to the 76th Academy Awards. The gown was later included by Vogue among André Leon Talley's selections of notable Oscar dresses.

Bouwer developed a long-term creative collaboration with Shania Twain beginning in the late 1990s. After working with her on the video for "From This Moment On", he became Twain's image director and continued designing and styling her for subsequent music videos. For the video for "That Don't Impress Me Much", Bouwer conceived Twain's hooded leopard-print look, while for "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" he created the gender-reversing costume based on the visual concept of Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" video. Bouwer later designed costumes for Twain's Still the One residency at Caesars Palace, which opened in 2012. Bouwer was the first American designer to produce a virtual fashion show in response to economic struggle across the globe and regarding the environment. As opposed to bringing us to Bryant Park, Bouwer took us, and his inaugural Spring/Summer 2009 collection, to the web. Not only did this new medium of fashion allow friends and clients to experience the collection if unable to physically attend a show, but it also opened the experience into the offices and homes of stylists, buyers, journalists, and fashionistas everywhere. Bouwer felt it was his "social and environmental responsibility" to pave way to such a movement "minimizing impact and waste". Bouwer virtually presented his Fall 2010 collection, starring Candice Swanepoel, before taking the experience one step further. In February 2011 Bouwer was the first designer to present a virtual 3D fashion show with his Fall 2011 collection starring model Selita Ebanks.

Bouwer is gay.

• Title — Role — Notes — Year • Not Just A Girl: Shania Twain — Himself — Documentary — 2022 • Blue Bloods — Himself — Season 1, episode 19 — 2011 • Project Runway — Guest Judge — Season 6, episode 4 — 2009 • Ebony Fashion Fair: 50 Years of Style — Himself — TV movie — 2008 • I Am an Animal: The Story of Ingrid Newkirk and PETA — Himself — Documentary — 2007 • Miss Universe 2007 — Judge — TV special — 2007 • CMT: The Greatest- 20 Sexiest Videos of 2006 — Himself — TV special — 2006 • The Apprentice U.S. — Team Designer — Season 5, episode 13 — 2006 • CMT: Greatest Moments: Shania Twain — Himself — TV special — 2006 • Paris Hilton: Not So Simple — Himself — TV documentary — 2005 • America's Next Top Model — Designer, Go-See Challenge — Cycle 3, episode 7 — 2004 • Miss Universe 2001 — Judge — TV special — 2001