Bijan (designer)

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Bijan Pakzad (generally known simply as Bijan) (born 1944)^[1] is a well-known Iranian American designer of menswear and fragrances.

Born in Tehran, Iran, Bijan immigrated to the United States in 1973. His exclusive boutique on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills was established in 1976 and can be visited by "appointment only". It has been described as "the most expensive store in the world".^[2]

Bijan dresses some of the world's most powerful men: President of the United States George W. Bush, Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger, American actor Tom Cruise, German TV host Thomas Gottschalk, British actor Sir Anthony Hopkins, President of Russia Vladimir Putin, U.S. Senator John Kerry, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair, Paul Allen, Jay Leno, Giorgio Armani, Usher, Carlos Slim Helu, Steve Wynn, Oscar De La Renta, Tom Ford, Viscomte Kyle Herrig IV and U.S. President Ronald Reagan have all been dressed by Bijan.

Bijan mainly lives in Beverly Hills, California but he is also known to own residences in New York and Boston as well as Milan and Florence, Italy.

Bijan is known also for his cars, he has a Yellow Bentley Azure with black interior as well as a Black Bentley Azure with yellow interior he is also known to have a Black Mercedes SLR Mclaren with a customized paint scheme, a black Bugatti Veyron, and a Yellow Ferrari 430 which he parks outside his Rodeo Drive Boutique and a Yellow Rolls Royce Drophead Coupe.

Bijan's fragrances for both men and women are known for their distinctive circular glass flacon with an open center and a dividing web. When half full, the fragrance fills two separate chambers, seemingly defying the law of gravity that liquid seeks its own level. One of these perfume bottles is featured in the permanent exhibit of the Smithsonian Institution.

In 1988, Bijan for Men won the Fragrance Foundation's FiFi award for "Most Successful Men’s Fragrance (Exclusive)" while Bijan for Women won the award for "Best Women’s Fragrance Package".^[3] In 1997, Bijan again had success at the FiFi Awards with the Michael Jordan Cologne winning awards for "Men's Fragrance Star of the Year Specialty/ Department Stores" and "Best National Advertising Campaign – Men’s". ^[4]

Another fragrance from Bijan, DNA, earned Bijan an Ig Nobel Prize in 1995 for chemistry. The perfume contained no deoxyribonucleic acid and came in a triple helix-shaped bottle (as opposed to the double helix structure of DNA).^[5]. The DNA name was inspired by Bijan's children's initials, Daniela, Nicolas, and Alexandra, not the nucleic acid.^[6]

In 1989 Vanity Fair magazine named Bijan to their "International Best Dressed List".^[7]

In the late 1980s Bijan designed a golden colt revolver. The gun had a leather handgrip fashioned for a .38-cal. Colt revolver inlaid in the cylinder was 56 grams of 24-karat gold, the gun was placed in a mink pouch in a Baccarat crystal case embossed with the customer's name. Bijan's own signature is engraved in gold on the shank of the gun. In 2005 one of his two hundred guns ever created sold at Christie's auction house for over $50,000 USD

Bijan has three children, Daniela Pakzad from his first marriage and Alexandra Pakzad and Nicolas Bijan Pakzad from his second marriage to Tracy Murdock. His daughter Alexandra Pakzad works as a fashion model, and his Daughter Daniela works in the watch department of Bijan designer for men. His son Nicolas Bijan Pakzad also works for Bijan designer for men.

In 2000 Bijan courted controversy when an advertisement featuring a "rotund [nude] model named Bella"^[8] and himself was at first rejected by New York magazines before it was accepted by Tina Brown's Talk magazine.^[9]

According to the Los Angeles Times Calendar Section the Bijan Perfume and Fashion Business has brought in an estimated 4 billion dollars in sales world wide.

Bijan perfume is referenced in the Weezer song "You Gave Your Love to Me Softly". Bijan Menswear is referenced in the film "American Psycho".

He selected as Persian Man of the Year 2006 by Persian Awards®.