Linda Fargo hosted a book signing at Bergdorf Goodman last Tuesday to celebrate the publication of Loulou de la Falaise, a profile of the great fashion icon who inspired Yves Saint Laurent, by Ariel de Ravenel and Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni.
"I'm excited to read the book," said Kate Betts. "Natasha knew Loulou very well, she covered her as a reporter for Women's Wear Daily, she covered Paris at a time when Loulou, Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge were still very active in the fashion scene. Natasha, who started her career in Paris designing accessories at the studio at
The book is the brainchild of Ariel de Ravenel, de la Falaise's close friend and business partner, who was approached to write it at a particularly painful time, soon after de la Falaise's untimely death at sixty three.
"The involvement for me was huge, because Loulou was one of my best friends and my partner in business," said de Ravenel. "Somebody approached me to ask me if would do the book. It was a difficult time because Loulou had recently passed away, but I immediately said I would do it. I put the concept of the book together, I asked Natasha to write it, and I chose all the photographs. I knew where they all were because I had known Loulou for a very long time. She was Saint Laurent's design partner, she designed all the jewelry for him and she inspired him by being the way she was every day. They were soul mates in the creative area. Loulou had natural Boho chic. She knew how to mix things in extraordinary ways and that's what inspired Saint Laurent so much. She wore his clothes better than anyone."
The gathering was a veritable who's who of the fashion world, including Grace Coddington, Olivier Theyskens, Amy Fine Collins, Roopal Patel, Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele, Tamara Mellon, Derek Lam and Giovanna Battaglia.
"Ariel de Ravenel asked me to write the text, so I just lucked out," said Fraser-Cavassoni. "As a journalist interviewing Loulou, one felt so blessed. You put in a finger and out came a hand. She was so imaginative, talented and funny. There was a great lightness about her, she really got it. She loved New York. When she lived here she worked for people like Vreeland and Houston. Her mother was Maxime de la Falaise, a force of nature who was very close to people like Warhol. The book is very London-New York-Paris. The chic and exclusive Loulou's in London is named after Loulou. The owner, Robin Birley, her first cousin, had great affection for her, and he's in the book. She would have loved Loulou's because she loved to kick back, though she was so serious in her work. People who worked with her said, 'You cannot imagine how she gave on every level.' She wasn't just doing the accessories for Saint Laurent, she was helping him choose outfits for Catherine Deneuve, she was like a stylist. The amount of work she did was equivalent to three people. She was generous, and she was an incredible cook. Everything she did had such simplicity. She was aspirational and inspiring. She was modest, but she never blew her trumpet; it was always 'Yves.' In 2004 she opened her own place, and Bergdorf's sold her clothes: beautiful tweed jackets, satin shirts, wonderful jewelry. It was Bohemian, it was fantastic, it was Hippie Princess Deluxe. I would love to have her embroidered jackets and wonderful wild jewelry."
