Colette faithfully adheres apt the mosh-pit school of accident promotion: Position a bunch of people with amusing new ventures aboard the store’s upstairs form and art layer by bustling evening hours, have them invite all their friends, corner up the music, and watch the shoulders fly to get in.
Monaco-based jeweler Gaia Repossi and her new best friend, the lovely model-cum-jewelry designer Anouck Lepère, can at least say their melée was in the service of a good cause. The two connected forces to behalf the babies of Rwanda, whose plight Lepère looked firsthand while she visited the nation two years antecedent. She and Repossi commissioned Rwandan villagers to braid cord for bracelets, cuffs, and armbands, which Repossi then embellishes with silver and gold necklaces and sells to behalf the nonprofit Kageno (”a place of hope” in Kenyan dialect). The pieces will be obtainable at Colette this summer and extra venues in the hereafter. And to hear the ladies talk about it, it seems like the collaboration may not be the final. “This namely my premier time working for a philanthropy and what I enjoyed was producing chips with the people,” said Lepère, who traveled with photographer Dana Lixenberg to document the project (above).
Meanwhile, in distinct segment of the cache, Claudia Schiffer (upon, with Carine Roitfeld) was on her own mission for quality. Schiffer’s cashmere knits launch this fall. “I’ve wanted to do something in fashion for a long time,” says the supermodel, who was escorted by Mario Testino. “But I didn’t ambition it to be the usual celebrity clothing copyright. I wanted this to be something to be pride of.” The line came about behind Schiffer was invited at Suzy Menkes to talk at the International Herald Tribune’s daily elegance session, held that annual in her natural Germany. After Schiffer spoke about what she looks for in a fine mark, she was approximated at the son of the author of Iris von Arnim, the Hamburg-based cashmere house founded in the 1960’s. The supe was smitten, and the collection was born—eventually. “It has taken approximately two years to perfect the see,” says Schiffer of the dark, pearly, and gray classics—think stripey cardigans and effortless pullovers—”and now we’re on Net-a-Porter.” The tag boasts not comprised backstory, fair a agreeable mate among a female, a brand, and a longtime favorite. “I’ve loved [cashmere] since I was a mini girl,” Schiffer mentioned, “when I used to work into my mother’s locker and embezzle her sweaters.”
Photos: Courtesy of Claudia Schiffer / Courtesy of Gaia Repossi
—Rebecca Voight