He also designed for celebrities like Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian, Halle Berry and Viola Davis.

But the bulk of his business was aimed at ordinary consumers, who sought his ready-to-wear pieces even if some critics were lukewarm about them. BCBG stands for “bon chic, bon genre,” a French slang phrase that roughly translates as “good style, good attitude,” a philosophy Mr. Azria liked to live by in the face of criticism.

Writing in 2008 about designers like Mr. Azria, Ruth La Ferla of The New York Times said his “collections may not break new ground, but as he likes to point out, they sell at several hundred BCBG boutiques in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, as well as at department stores like Bloomingdale’s and Saks.”

She added, “To call them commercial is no insult, he said. ‘It’s a fact.’ ”

In 1996, BCBG became one of a handful of commercial brands to introduce collections at New York Fashion Week. Critics were concerned that such clothing would not measure up to more expensive competitors, but, as Constance C. R. White wrote in a review in The Times, “BCBG, by Max Azria, displayed enough muscle to turn back the naysayers.”

“He made his point,” she continued, “with a sweeping gray maxi-coat with epaulets, flat-front pants and mélange turtleneck; a brown and beige wide-lapel jacket with black fur collar; a black suede belted shirt jacket and black denim bell-bottom pants with white topstitching tracing a line down the back of the leg; and languid jersey evening dresses, including a plunging V-neck topped with a fur-collared greatcoat.”