Ode to couture

Steeped in crystal pink tulle by Giambattista VALLI, and enlaced in glittering gems in Stephane ROLLAND , our original heroine savours her attire as you would a cool sea in summer. Her clothing reflects her heart: she is graceful but firm, poetic but sensible, classic but modern. Her duality is her vitality, and her presence is as much a performance as it is a way of being. It’s as if she incarnates all the mothers, daughters, and sisters of time, carrying with her a gentle wisdom. She is a fountain of femininity. She also knows there is strength in letting oneself flourish within the ebbs and flows of experience, like the intricacies of her satin gowns, hand-beaded and light across the body. A pendant pulls on the nape of her neck like an anchor to a drifting ship. She sways like the fabric which dons her, delicate but secure. Over the years, she has learned to oscillate like a wave breaking against the shore, only to retreat back out to sea. Womanhood has taught her to stay unyielding and constant, never letting herself remain broken on the shore.

Those who have the fortune to know her, even for a fleeting moment, remember her soft strength. She may peek at you from across the room, perhaps even over her shoulder and through her fluttering eyelashes. It’s as if she knows something you don’t, like the centuries-old secrets sealed into the marble statue of a Greek goddess. Her CARTIER ruby necklace seems to burn with knowing. Her magnetism seizes even the most reticent, as the girlish blush of her cheeks balances her sharp eyes. In he VALENTINO leather gloves, she feels fiercely feminine, and in this gold embroidery, she feels royal. Even the blackest of fabrics cannot dull her shine when she is her own source of light. In vivid colors she is a bird of paradise, piercing the canopy with her elegant flight. But as soon as you think you know her, she pulls back into her summer sea of tulle and gemstones. The feminine mystique lives on.

by Mélanie Mollard