Ode To Paris

Lockdown has only made Stephen Jones fall more in love with Paris, a city that’s been a second home for almost 40 years following collaborations with Dior, Jean Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler, Claude Montana and Azzedine Alaïa.

Jones isn’t making many cross-Channel trips these days, but that hasn’t dampened his creative impulse, or his love for France. The designer is taking part in London’s digital fashion week, with a 15-minute film that shows him, together with his team, making the fall-winter 2021 collection called “French Kiss” — a salute to the country’s feminine mystique.

“C’est mon amour de la France,” says the designer in the film, where he shows off stylish creations including a Napoleonic bicorn with a gently undulating rim; a lineup of dark roses arching gently over the nose; a satin beret and delicate, feathery designs inspired by Audrey Hepburn in

“My Fair Lady,” and the Bluebell dancers at the Lido in Paris.

The black-and-white photographs of Henry Clarke inspired one design that looks as if it’s ready to fly away: it’s a black bowler hat with pheasant feathers like lightning bolts shooting from the sides. There are also trilbies sprinkled with

raindrops, “ready for a louche promenade in the Jardin de Tuileries,” and an haute couture velvet “croissant” for ladies who consider food to be just as important as fashion.

In an interview before the film’s screening, the cheeky Jones said he was inspired by the idea of a woman making love naked, but still wearing a hat with sexy, quivering feathers.

“This collection is more about the Parisienne attitude that certain hats can give you when you put them on. It’s the idea of France — the seduction, the allure — but it’s not too historically referenced,” said the designer. “I have clients like Cardi B, and they want an extravagant statement.”

The palette is narrow — black, pink and red. ‘‘French chic is wearing black. But when French chic is getting undressed at the end of the evening to make love, maybe (she’s) wearing pink and red,” said the designer.

In September, Jones will mark 25 years as directeur création chapeau at Christian Dior, and is planning an event in France to mark his long relationship with the country.

In the meantime, and despite the lockdown, he’s pressing ahead with his Dior work over Zoom, and taking bridal orders from around the world. “Most people put off their weddings until 2021, and we’ve been inundated with inquiries for bridal hats,” the designer confessed. — SAMANTHA CONTI polyester. The production consumers less water.

In December, Lacoste joined the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s “Make Fashion Circular” program. Since 2009, this nonprofit association has introduced circularity into the worldwide economic agenda by helping fashion brands become greener, with a focus on the impact on the planet and those who live in it. — LISA LOCKWOOD

“I’ve wanted to expand in the U.S. and Miami is a natural choice,” added the designer. “We also have existing clients in the Miami area who have traveled to other Maria Tash locations and every time they visit us in New York or London or Dubai, they ask about us opening in Miami. I’m thrilled to finally meet the demand in Florida and look forward to the mix of local and international clientele that visit Bal Harbour.”

Tash’s Miami store is about 3,300 square feet with an open floor plan and room for three piercing stations. The space will remain in place for at least a year — with the hope that it could become a permanent location. For the opening, Tash has designed six special pieces for the location featuring pink and rose purple diamonds.

Amid this pandemic winter, Miami has become a refuge for travelers seeking warm weather and looser restrictions. It also continues to be a travel hub for international shoppers from Latin America and Russia.

For Tash, this is only a plus for her upcoming Bal Harbour business. “I think we will receive a lot of native Floridians as well as many Americans who have elected to spend more time in Miami over the past year. I am also very excited to welcome the international clients who may not have had a chance to visit New York this year,” she said.

— MISTY WHITE SIDELL