Carine Roitfeld At Chanel Cruise Seoul

Carine Roitfeld: Take Me To The River
By Jessica Eritou

As most on the A-list were wearing their finest jewels and gowns at the Met Gala on 4 May, another fashionable event also took place at the same time… Carine Roitfeld was seen at the Chanel Cruise 2016 show at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, in Seoul, South Korea. WWD reported Roitfeld sitting in the front row, wearing a ballet pink cropped bolero jacket paired with a slinky black dress. The pop art inspired show in the largest city in South Korea brought the likes of Gisele Bündchen and Kristen Stewart who were also in attendance.

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Carine Roitfeld et al photos courtesy of wwd.com, purple.fr, pinterest.com, nymag.com, instagram.com, harpersbazaar.com.

Nicola Roitfeld: Mother Of Carine

In celebration of Mother's Day, let us acquaint ourselves with the few facts known about Nicola Roitfeld, mother of Carine and grandmother of Julia and Vladimir. Born in Paris, Nicola worked for a time as a script girl, likely the setting in which she first met Carine's father, a film producer. The couple reared Carine and her brother, Pierre, in typical bourgeois Parisian style. In her book Irreverent, Carine shared a bit about her upbringing: "I was raised in Auteil, in the 16th arrondissement of Pairs — a very posh neighborhood. I am the daughter of a Russian-born film producer and a Parisian mother. My father had a bit of a mad streak that I think I inherited. The legendary French actor Louis Jouvet was a witness at my parents' wedding, just to give you some idea of the bohemian chic quality of their relationship."

Nicola Roitfeld practicing ballet

Carine considered Nicola well-dressed always, a "very classic Frenchwoman" who loved dressing her daughter in top designers from a young age: "My mother was a real Parisian, which makes you immediately understand fashion when you are very young. It’s the way you live and what you see in shops, even if you are not shopping at Dior or Chanel. You know it exists and it’s in your DNA, seeing beautiful people and knowing couture and parfum… My mother's elegance marked me profoundly. She dressed in couture clothing and was always impeccably turned out, even at home. She used to go to the hairdresser three times a week."

Nicola Roitfeld as a young girl

Carine fondly recollects helping her mother to apply her eye makeup: "I think I was eight or nine years old. My mother was preparing to go out and she wanted me to help her put her eyeliner on. I remember very carefully putting on her designer eyeliner for her — it is such a strong memory…  It was the mid 1960s, and she was wearing a Pucci dress, and I was helping her put on her black eyeliner in a straight line. To be symmetrical can be difficult, so she asked me to do it."

"Corps & Lames" for Vogue Paris (2005)

One of Carine's earliest maternal memories continues to influence her work today: "As a little girl my mother would always ask me to cut up the raw meat to feed the dog… It's not starting today — I was a controversial person from the beginning." See "The Butcher" (1997), "Corps & Lames" (2005), "Plaisir Solitaire" (2009), and "Boucherie Desnoyer" (2015) as examples of the persistence of her memory. As for her formative style impressions, Carine remembers craving a close fitting Shetland sweater at the age of 14 and although her mother protested, she won in the end. This early choice epitomizes the essence of Carine perfectly — her knack for making the classic sexy with the devil in the details.

Nicola Roitfeld with her horse

In comparing herself with her mother in the role of grandmother, Carine is most tender, speaking from the heart: "I would love it if my granddaughter loves me as much as my daughter loved my mom. The relationship my daughter had with my mother was so specific. My mother passed away three years ago, and my daughter added her name to her own name after she passed. Her grandma was so important to her. Julia told her everything, about boyfriends, hairdos, bad notes from school: everything I wouldn’t be happy with! My mother would say, ‘No problem, you’re the best.’ When Julia comes to Paris, the first place she goes is her grandmother’s grave. Can you imagine? That’s how much she loved her. And if Romy loves me as much, my God, I’ve done something great. That’s what I wish. " Note that Julia keeps this image of her grandmother on her bedside table; she also posted it to Instagram with the caption "My beauty inspiration." Trop mignon…

Julia Restoin Roitfeld's bedside photos including her beloved grandmother, Nicola

Carine mentions her grandfather, the father of Nicola, in Irreverent as well: "Her own father had been a leading French writer and was the editor-in-chief of the satirical political weekly, Le Canard Enchainé. He had been an important figure in the French Resistance newspaper. He was a great figure in the Resistance movement, and a great journalist and political commentator." Greatness begets greatness… Happy Mother's Day to all!

The Restoin Roitfeld family at grandma's summer house in Uzès

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Carine Roitfeld: Irreverent images © 2011 Rizzoli. Restoin Roitfeld family photo courtesy of instagram.com.

Carine Roitfeld For Givenchy Fall/Winter 2015

Carine Roitfeld For Givenchy: With A Little Help From My Friends
By Jessica Eritou

With the help of Carine Roitfeld, Givenchy creative director Riccardo Tisci released his latest campaign alongside another designer. As much as we are shocked by his choice, we are happy to see Tisci push Givenchy's envelope by featuring well-known designers of other fashion houses. Tisci brought his friend, and now star of the new campaign, Donatella Versace, designer of the label with the same name, for his Fall 2015 collection.

Carine Roitfeld styled the duo with simplistic profile head shots with the familiar black-and-white filter in typical Givenchy style. To capture Versace's delicate features and platinum blonde locks, Roitfeld poses her in front of Tisci's dark plaid ensemble, while she complements the photo as well in what appears to be a velvet vintage pattern. Although the two face opposite directions, you still feel a sense of unity in the shot, with the closeness and soft facial expressions from one another. Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott shot the intimate campaign for Givenchy.

[Editor's note: While we are on the subject of Donatella, I love these images of her fitting Carine for the short film "The Client" by Loïc Prigent and Fabien Constant. The shot of Carine and Riccardo from the film is cute as well. Be sure to read Jessica Eritou's thoughts on "The Client" if you missed it previously.]

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Givenchy ad © 2015 Givenchy. Carine Roitfeld photographs © 2011 Condé Nast. All Rights Reserved.

Julia Restoin Roitfeld In ELLE France

Three generations of Roitfeld women come together for the April issue of ELLE France in a perfect tribute to spring style. Julia Restoin Roitfeld appears on the cover surrounded by bunnies as styled by her mother, Carine Roitfeld, and photographed by Pamela Hanson. Inside the magazine, Julia exudes sweet, sexy, and chic in an array of denim looks and in one special shot, her daughter, Romy, appears along with her beloved bunnies. To bring it full circle, I haves added images of Julia taken for ELLE France back in the 1980s, including one with Carine. Below is the full interview with Julia (with comments by Carine) which I have translated from French to English, enjoy!

Telle Mére, Tel Style

Julia Restoin Roitfeld, mannequin, créatrice du site Romy & The Bunnies et fille de Carine, prend la pose pour sa mére une leçon de jean sensuel, par deux expertes.

“Je suis moins pointue que maman !”

Un site pour mères stylées, une enfant de 3 ans, Romy… Et des projets plein la tête. La fille de Carine Roitfeld est sur tous les fronts (row).

‹‹J’adore tes chaussures››, dit Julia en admirant les escarpins fatals de sa mère, Carine Roitfeld. ‹‹Elle ne me les piquera pas, elle fait une pointure de plus que moi››, s’amuse la maman. ‹‹Heureusement, je peux lui piquer ses vêtements››, rétorque Julia. Nous sommes dans un studio photo parisien où se déroule le shooting de notre série mode. Carine affûte les looks de Julia, fille modèle de 34 ans. Yeux de chat et sourire ultra-bright, Julia dégage un charme tout en douceur. Cette Frenchie habite Manhattan. Elle y est arrivée, il y a onze ans, pour étudier le design management. Et elle y est restée. ‹‹ J’aime la vie aux Etats-Unis on y connaît moins ma famille (son père, Christian Restoin, a créé la griffe de chemises Equipment, sa mère est encore plus photographiée que les people des premiers rangs des défilés). Cela me motive pour mener des projets, car j’ai tout à prouver.›› Et les projets, elle les multiplie en tant que mannequin, réalisatrice, consultante et fondatrice d’un site d’e-shopping. Julia aimerait aussi lancer une collection de dessous pour femmes enceintes. ‹‹Je ne comprends pas pourquoi on ne pourrait pas porter de soutien-gorge sexy quand on allaite ?›› Pour le moment, Julia est surtout très occupée par romyandthebunnies.com, un site Internet pour mères en quête d’astuces et de conseils shopping. Elle l’a créé juste après la naissance de sa fille, Romy, 3 ans en mai. ‹‹C’est pour les mamans qui ne veulent pas sacrifier leur vie d’avant. Tout est dans le nom du site : Romy, c’est ma fille, elle adore les lapins, et les bunnies, ce sont les créatures sexy du magazine “Playboy”. Enceinte, j’ai pu constater que l’univers de la maternité manquait cruellement de glamour.›› Le site se développe à la vitesse grand V : Romy & The Bunnies sortira une capsule pour enfant cet été, en collaboration avec la marque Love Shack Fancy. Puis un projet avec Bonpoint pour les 75 ans du livre culte des enfants américains ‹‹Pat The Bunny››*. Si Julia a reçu quelques coups de pouce via le réseau de sa mère, elle a largement prouvé que sa place était dans le milieu de la mode. En 2005 à 24 ans, elle fut l’image du parfum Black Orchid de Tom Ford. ‹‹Je connais Julia depuis qu’elle est toute petite, elle n’est pas seulement belle, elle est talentueuse, bien élevée et professionnelle››, salue le créateur. Avec cette première pub, sa carrière décolle. S’ensuivent les campagnes de Jil Sander, Lancôme, Givenchy…

APPLIQUE-T-ELLE LES LEÇONS DE MODE DE SA MÉRE ? ‹‹Je suis plutôt très basique, jean-pull-ballerines. Je suis loin du look hyper pointu de ma maman, toujours en talons, mais c’est aussi certainement parce que je marche beaucoup plus qu’elle !›› Quand elle était petite, Carine pouvait l’habiller comme elle le voulait : ‹‹J’étais bien plus facile que Romy au même âge. Elle a déjà ses préférences, notamment pour l’imprimé léopard. Comme ma mère››, s’amuse-t-elle. Quand elle était élève de l’Ecole active bilingue, à Paris, Julia devait porter un uniforme bleu marine. Mais Carine préférait l’habiller en noir. ‹‹Tu leur diras que c’est du bleu marine ! m’enjoignait-elle. C’est une super-maman. Elle était très présente, se levait à 5 heures du matin le weekend pour m’emmener à mes compétitions d’équitation !›› C’est aussi une super-grand-mère. Dès qu’elle est à New York, Grandma Carine emmène Romy déjeuner et faire du shopping avec elle. Côté éducation, Julia se garde bien de donner des conseils. ‹‹Chacun a ses solutions, c’est très personnel. En ce qui me concerne, je passe ma vie à culpabiliser. Je m’étais toujours dit que je ne serais pas aussi sévère que mes parents et, finalement, je le suis ! Etre mère célibataire n’est pas évident : je dois jouer tous les rôles.›› Si elle est séparée du père de Romy (le mannequin Robert Konjic), il n’y a pas de garde bien déterminée entre eux. ‹‹On a tous deux des plannings difficiles à prévoir, alors on s’arrange. Quand je suis seule, j’en profite pour manger n’importe quoi en regardent la télé.›› Comment voit-elle l’avenir ? ‹‹J’espère développer Romy & The Bunnies et avoir d’autres enfants, il ne me reste plus qu’à trouver le papa››, sourit-elle. Alors que se termine notre interview, Carine passe devant nous, accaparée par son shooting. Julia la rappelle à l’ordre : ‹‹Maman, dis au revoir.›› Décidément, cette fille a reçu une très bonne éducation. — Sophie Gachet

*Disponible chez Harrods, à Londres.

Such A Mother, Such Style

Julia Restoin Roitfeld, model, creator of the site Romy & The Bunnies, and daughter of Carine, poses for her mother in a lesson in sensual jeans by two experts.

"I am less sharp than Mom!"

A site for stylish mothers, a child of 3 years, Romy…  And projects in mind. The daughter of Carine Roitfeld is on every front (row).

"I love your shoes," said Julia admiring the fatal heels of her mother, Carine Roitfeld. "She does not pique me, she is one size larger than me," teases the mother. "Fortunately, I can nip her clothes," retorts Julia. We are in a Parisian photo studio where the shooting of our fashion editorial takes place. Carine sharpens Julia's looks, girl model 34 years old. Eyes of a cat and ultra-bright smile, Julia emits a gentle charm. This Frenchie lives in Manhattan. She arrived there, eleven years ago, to study design management. And she stayed. "I love life in the United States, less is known about my family there (her father, Christian Restoin, created the Equipment brand of shirts, her mother is still the most photographed of the people in the front rows of fashion shows). This motivates me to carry out projects, because I have everything to prove." And the projects, she multiplies them as a fashion model, director, consultant, and founder of an e-shopping site. Julia would also like to launch a lingerie collection for pregnant women. "I do not understand why we cannot wear a sexy bra when breastfeeding?" For the moment, Julia is especially busy with romyandthebunnies.com, a website for mothers seeking tips and shopping advice. She created it just after the birth of her daughter, Romy, 3 years old in May. "This is for moms who do not want to sacrifice their previous lives. It's all in the site name: Romy, this is my daughter, she loves rabbits, and the bunnies, they are the sexy creatures of the magazine 'Playboy.' While pregnant, I observed that the universe of motherhood was sorely lacking glamour." The site is growing at the speed of light: Romy & The Bunnies will release a capsule for children this summer, in collaboration with the brand Love Shack Fancy. Then a project with Bonpoint for the 75th anniversary of the cult book of American children, "Pat The Bunny"*. If Julia has received some nudges through the network of her mother, she has amply demonstrated that her place was in the world of fashion. In 2005, at 24 years old, she was the image of the perfume Black Orchid by Tom Ford. "I have known Julia since she was little, she is not only beautiful, she's talented, well-educated, and professional," salutes the designer. With this first ad, her career took off. There followed the campaigns of Jil Sander, Lancôme, Givenchy...

DOES SHE APPLY THE FASHION LESSONS OF HER MOTHER? "I tend to be very basic, jeans-pull-ballerinas. I'm far from the super sharp look of my mom, always in heels, but also probably because I walk a lot more than she." When she was little, Carine could dress her as she wished: "I was much easier than Romy at the same age. She already has her preferences, including the leopard print. Like my mother," this amuses her. When she was a student at the Ecole Active Bilingue in Paris, Julia wore a navy blue uniform. But Carine preferred to dress her in black. "'You tell them it's navy blue!' she enjoined me. This is a supermom. She was very present, got up at 5 a.m. on the weekend to take me to my riding competitions!" This is also a supergrandma. When she is in New York, Grandma Carine takes Romy to lunch and goes shopping with her. On the side of upbringing, Julia is careful not to give advice. "Everyone has their own solutions, it's very personal. As for me, I spend my life feeling guilty. I always told myself that I would not be as severe as my parents and ultimately I am! Being a single mother is not easy: I have to play all the roles." Though she is separated from the father of Romy (the model Robert Konjic), there is no definite custody between them. "Both of our schedules are difficult to predict, so it is arranged. When I'm alone, I take the opportunity to eat just about anything while watching TV." How does she see the future? "I hope to develop Romy & The Bunnies and have more children, it remains for me to find the dad," she smiles. While ending our interview, Carine passes us, monopolized by her shooting. Julia calls her to order: "Mom, say goodbye." Definitely, this girl has received a very good education. — Sophie Gachet

* Available at Harrods in London.

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Julia Restoin Roitfeld for ELLE France © 2015 Condé Nast.

Carine Roitfeld For UNIQLO

I am excited to see the forty pieces that result as Carine Roitfeld and UNIQLO combine forces to create a line of clothing, but I must admit that I am not surprised by this collaboration… Back in February 2013, when La Roitfeld shared her daily routine via Harper's Bazaar, she described her evening wear and immediately I was possessed with the desire for a UNIQLO puffer for bedtime. In Carine's words: "Going to bed. It's very cold in my hotel. Over my Olatz slip dress, I am going to wear my new UNIQLO light-down puffer. I put on a bit of Opium again, feeling like a brunette version of Marilyn." You want a puffer, too, right?

As for her inspiration for the collection, Carine stated: “I feel joy at creating new mode expressions. I am constantly asking myself what these are, and creating new clothing within the UNIQLO LifeWear concept is a great challenge… I started from the idea of clothes that I would want to wear myself, and developed this into clothes that anyone would want to wear, a woman’s ideal of clothes that make her feel transformed when she wears them.” 

Naoki Takizawa, design director for UNIQLO, supported her vision in his remarks: “Carine goes to see collections all around the world, and the visuals that emerge from this relentless pursuit of leading edge fashion have had a tremendous influence on the fashion industry. I believe that a new type of LifeWear will be created through her work.”

Tadashi Yanai, head of parent company Fast Retailing, commented: “Ms. Roitfeld is a charismatic fashion editor and influential figure in the fashion world and we are extremely happy to present this collection with her as our collaborative partner. UNIQLO’s aim is to create everyday clothing that is functional, comfortable and reasonably priced. I am pleased that this new collection will allow us to present our customers worldwide with a new type of UNIQLO LifeWear.”

Scheduled for release in October, the Carine Roitfeld for UNIQLO collection promises to be unique and chic, bien sûr. Here's hoping the CR puffer appears in the line...

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Carine Roitfeld for UNIQLO image courtesy of CR Fashion Book. Modification by Kellina de Boer.