Brian Atwood

The sexy violet suede shoes that Julia Restoin-Roitfeld wears are the Lola pumps by her friend and designer Brian Atwood. Fascinated by toe cleavage, Atwood is a fetishist's dream. He learned design while working at Gianni Versace for seven years in Milan where he still maintains a studio. Donatella says of his work, "Brian is amazing at injecting sheer femininity and sexiness into a static object like a shoe or a bag." Brian has a lofty goal in his design, to make the wearer stare at her own feet: "My job is done when a woman can't take her eyes off of her shoes. If she's at dinner and is looking admiringly down at her feet, rather than at her guy, I'm a happy man." Though I can hardly imagine Julia choosing to gaze longingly at her Lolas when she has Robert Konjic to look at, she is super sexy in these and clearly an Atwood fan.

The admiration is mutual, Atwood is a Roitfeld fan as well. He flew in his sister to be his date at this year's Council of Fashion Designer Awards (CFDA) including styling and dressing her for the evening as part of the deal. When he chose the stylists for his sister's hair and makeup, Brian requested a specific look: “Hair straight and shiny with a little bit of bedhead in back, and very natural makeup with a smokey Carine Roitfeld eye—very Vogue Paris.” Apparently that same day Julia was texting Brian while trying to zip up her stunning black Balmain dress for the party.

Photograph of Julia Restoin-Roitfeld wearing Brian Atwood's Lola purple suede shoes courtesy of coolspotters.com
Brian Atwood photograph courtesy of The Fash Pack

Parsons

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld attended Parsons School of Design in Paris before moving to New York in 2004. After interning with design firm Baron & Baron, Julia transferred her credits and enrolled at New York's premier design school, Parsons The New School for Design. At Parsons, Julia's major in design management included numerous courses that focused on the business side of the industry. While taking courses, she was also interning with photographer Craig McDean, learning about all aspects of editing and production in the studio. In July 2006, Julia Restoin-Roitfeld graduated from Parsons in New York with a BBA in Design Management. Her preparation at school equipped her beautifully to develop and launch new design projects which has paid off in the work that Julia has done as an art director for Jean Paul Gaultier, V Magazine, Marina Rinaldi, and Rock & Republic among other prestigious clients. Be sure to read Julia's senior thesis on customization of luxury goods.

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld's Parsons college graduation party photograph © 2009 Todd Selby. All Rights Reserved.

Poppy Delevigne

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld's friend Poppy Delevigne is an English model, actress, and socialite originally from London that now resides in New York. Poppy went to Francis Holland School in Belgravia and then attended Hampshire boarding school Beadles, where she was in the same class as Alice Dellal. As a model Poppy has been featured in campaigns for Anya Hindmarch, Laura Ashley, Bamford, and is currently the face of Myla. She is represented by the modeling agency Storm and lives in the Upper East Side apartment of the Duchess of York.

Poppy has an interesting family background as well. Her grandfather, Sir Jocelyn Stevens, is a major influence in British media. Stevens is the founder of the first British pirate radio station Radio Caroline, the former publisher of Queen Magazine, the managing director of the Evening Standard and Daily Express newspapers, and the chair of English Heritage. He is currently married to a descendant of the family which owned the Titanic. However Stevens' first marriage was to one of the ladies-in-waiting to Princess Margaret, Janie Sheffield, and they have a daughter Pandora, who is head of personal shopping at Selfridge’s department store as well as Poppy's mother. Poppy's father is property developer Charles Delevigne. Her younger sister Cara has just been signed to model as well. Tune in to Fashion Air to see a new video of Poppy and her favorite spots in London.

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld and Poppy Delevigne photographs courtesy of stylerumor.com and style.com

Keegan Singh

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld counts Keegan Singh among her friends and colleagues; the talented pair have the good fortune to put their heads together on interesting projects as well as fabulous parties. Chosen as one of Paper's Beautiful People for 2009, Singh works as a freelance stylist and contributes to Vogue, Purple, and V Man. Though Singh did not go to school for fashion, he was lucky enough to break into the business of being a stylist by assisting Tabitha Simmons and Katie Grand and learning from them. His live-in boyfriend is jewelry designer Eddie Borgo. In fact, Julia and Keegan just collaborated on the poster shown below, a limited-edition print that will be complimentary with purchase of Borgo's jewelry line while supplies last. Keegan acted as stylist and Julia as art director for the poster (obviously). Note that Keegan is wearing a bracelet designed by Borgo in the photo above.

Last season, Julia and Keegan had the chance to work together on Rock & Republic's campaign which featured Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld with Malgosia Bela. When asked for her thoughts on casting her brother for the campaign, Julia replied, "Everything was very professional. And part of the reason we cast Vladimir, in fact, was that the campaign seemed to call for a real guy, and not a model. I mean, that was my pitch—the previous campaigns weren't embodying the strength of the brand's name, and its products, and I felt like it was important to express a rock 'attitude,' in an authentic way, rather than do something like, oh, here's a bunch of guys pretending to be a band and fake-playing the guitar. When I think 'rock attitude,' I think confidence, I think strength; the choice of model reflects that. You have to be yourself, not someone playing a role."

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld and Keegan Singh photograph courtesy of Park Avenue Peerage.
Eddie Borgo limited-edition poster image courtesy of The New York Times Company.
Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld and Malgosia Bela advertisement courtesy of Rock & Republic.

Catherine Deneuve

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld has a style of her own, a bit like her mum but a bit rounder. Carine edges towards angular modernity, nearly androgynous in spots. Julia herself acknowledges that she is curvier than Carine and dresses to celebrate her shape. She has a more girly, flirtatious approach, influenced by her style icons such as Brigitte Bardot, Romy Schneider, and Catherine Deneuve.

Myself, I prefer Deneuve in her most angular and modern role, the title character in Belle de jour directed by Luis Buñuel. This beauty of the afternoon is thusly limited in her hours of prostitution by her husband's prompt arrival home each evening. The best part of the film is the wardrobe made entirely by Yves Saint Laurent for whom Deneuve was a lifelong muse. Also note the fabulous pilgrim pumps by Roger Vivier that she wears. Saint Laurent dressed Deneuve for other films including La chamade (The Parley), La sirène du Mississipi (Mississippi Mermaid), and Un flic (Dirty Money) and he named a brand of perfume for her.

Other notable films in Deneuve's oeuvre include Les parapluies de Cherbourg (Umbrellas of Cherbourg), Repulsion, Tristana, Le dernier métro (The Last Metro), The Hunger, Indochine, and Dancer in the Dark. She has two children, son Christian (his father is Roger Vadim) and daughter Chiara (her father is Marcello Mastroianni). She has also designed her own glasses, shoes, jewelry, and greeting cards.

Catherine Deneuve in Belle de jour photographs © 1967 Miramax Home Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.