………………..July in Paris used to be the month the French designers presented their fall “COUTURE” collections………Recently, a very dear friend of Jac’s….Abel, sent me this photo from Instagram…….He though it was Jac, but wasn’t sure. I new instantly that it was Jac. The caption read Nina Ricci, Fall Couture. From the date I knew Jac was 17. When I confirmed it was Jac, Abel was so happy to have found it and was able to share it with me…Abel and I had gone to Parsons School together. He was a year ahead of me. We were not really friends in school. The head of the design department kept us very sequestered. One class didn’t mingle with the other. Mrs. Kagey [the head of the Fashion department] frowned upon upper class men associating with the lowly newbies….As fate would have it designing was not the course Able would take. He became a “booker” at the very prestigious Elite modeling agency (the best agency to be with), and Jac was one of his models. The booker was responsible for arranging everything for the TOP models, and he took very good care of Jac…We became friends through Jac. Funny how things work out…..She had told me that Nina Ricci was one of her favorite accounts for the French Couture, among others. I noticed in this picture her hair looked dark, and it wasn’t her natural light blond color. I know from the stories she told me that they would do all kinds of things to the models hair. The hair “designers” wouldn’t think twice about changing a models hair color on the spot to work with the designer’s collection. I think she may have been a red head for this particular Fall Couture show. I wish she were here to see the photo and tell me the story behind it…. She said there were many times she had to run to the hair salon right after a show to have them get her natural hair color back…There were times she came home from Europe in tears, because of how they ruined her hair by dying, crimping…all kinds of tortures…..Of course she was young and would never complain fearing she wouldn’t get booked for the next season. I think the makeup makes Jac look like a China Doll, and from the look of the embroidery that very well may have been the theme….The makeup must have been very colorful, but that’s another unanswered question…….She loved working for Nina Ricci, not because of the designer Gerard Pipart, who she said was very talented and very nice to her, but because of Gerard’s right hand person, Francis Touyarou……..Francis was considerably older then Jac , but he adored her and took Jac under his wing. He was quite tall, and slender with a bald head. He wore wire rimmed glasses. He dressed impeccably, and was quite distinguished. Jac often told me that the atetier, [the work rooms where all the magic happens], at Nina Ricci were some of the most beautiful she had seen, and the seamstresses were some of the finest she had ever worked with. Not once did she get stuck with a pin! The couture shows were very different from the ready to wear shows. The ready to wear shows had 25 to 30 plus models, and the fittings were really adjustments not true fittings. For the Couture it was a whole different story. The clothes were fit to you. Weeks before the fittings they had already taken exact measurements of everything you could possibly measure! On the week of her fittings the designer already decided what you were to wear, and the clothes were already made for you according to your measurements. They were all made by hand and sewn by hand..Due to all of the preparations the fittings were for the final sewing. A model had better not gain any weigh!!!…Only 10 to 12 models were booked for each Couture show which, as I said, took place in July. For the Couture each model walked the runway back and forth by herself before another model came out….after all you were looking at clothes that started at $20,000.00 for a day dress. The “House” wanted to make sure the editors, and more importantly the “clients” got a good look!……………………Paris can be a very lonely place for a 17 year old girl with no friends. Forget the models befriending you. You were just competition to them. They spoke different languages, and in general were not a friendly bunch especially to a new pretty face! Francis took Jac out to dinner often, and some nights they would finish the evening at one of the new exciting clubs like Le Club Sept, and Le Palace….Jac couldn’t do this too often because she had to get to bed for the next full day of work….She adored Francis…..We met a few years later in NYC, and we too became fast friends. When I was in Paris on business I would meet Francis at his apt. and we would go out to the newest trendiest restaurants. Having the position he did at Nina Ricci for so many years, and continued to have, it was never a problem for him to get a reservation…..everyone new him. Jac told me I had to see Francis’s perfume bottle collection….OMG!!!!!When I saw it my jaw dropped, and it takes a lot to impress me. He had the rarest bottles and they were all worth a fortune. They were, as Francis would say, SUPERB! He had started collecting when he was a young man going to auctions. He had glass cases in his apt where he beautifully displayed each bottle…..When Francis came to New York Jac and I would always have dinner with him at least twice……..Jac always sent Francis a Christmas card or a postcard from where ever we traveled……many from Anguilla. Francis would always send us post cards from his travels…..mostly from Pau, France, where he was from. It was in the Pyrenees, and he said it was SUPERB……It was Francis who got me to use that word…He just said it with such flare! and I new exactly what he meant…..it was the best, the finest, flawless……He would vacation in Pau each summer with his sister who Jac had met…..A few years ago the cards stopped coming……..Francis had passed away…..a member of our family was gone. It hit Jac hard, and a piece of her heart went with him. He was like the older brother she never had. We later learned Francis left his bottle collection to a very prestigious Museum in France………..These extraordinary people come into our lives like a BRIGHT BURNING STAR, and then disappear with the morning light……. I will never forget Francis, and his kindness to my very young and lonely Jac……or the stories Jac would tell me that made up her life. I wonder now if Jac really knew how impressed, and blown away I was by her……………….I know they are together now, and they are saving a place for me at the table.
Beautifully written Louis. Precious memories! Thank you for sharing.
WHAT A TREASURE THESE PICTURES OF JAC ARE! And, your story about Jac and Francis is so beautiful. I would LOVE to have seen that perfume bottle collection!
Louis, I loved reading this story about your sweet Jac this morning. There is a Norman Rockwell picture of a young girl looking into a mirror, and in her hand is a women’s magazine with a fashionable model on the page she has open. This story reminds me of that picture. God brings people into our lives and I’m glad that Francis was there for your wife. The world can be such a cold place, but there are beautiful, lovely, caring people everywhere….we just have to look sometimes.
How are the morning glories doing? Have a lovely day. Hugs and love.
Dear Karen, the Morning Glories are growing up past the trellis and are starting to bloom. Jac just loved the Heavenly Blue, which of course is what I have growing.
What happens to the model’s outfits after the show?
They are shown on the “house model” to the clients, and then they are saved for the archives. They never sell the Couture samples. Many go into museums. I’ve seen many famous designer Couture clothes of the past and present in museum exhibits.
Actually, Valentino gave Jac a long red Valentino “Couture” coat after one of the shows, but that’s a whole other story!
Louis, I hope one day you tell us the Story of this red Couture coat from Valentino.
Seka.
If I remember correctly, Jac told the story of the Valentino coat on her FB page. If you scroll down her timeline, you’ll find it! Loved reading Jac’s stories and now the ones Louis is sharing with us. Very special.
I never think about the models perspective. Jac’s experiences are so fascinating. I live and breath very far from Paris. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for a glimpse into a world most of us only dream of.
Jac herself was Haute Couture. One of a kid. Classy. Priceless.
You both were very blessed.
Kind.
Need my glasses on, too!
Absolutely fabulous and Jac was the Queen of Couture for sure… I miss her so much…
Jac left us far too soon, but damn, what a life!
Oops. Thought I responded. Came here to look at others’ responses and couldn’t find mine. I think I posted earlier under someone else’s name by mistake.
Anyway, I want to thank you for sharing these fabulous pictures of Jac. I love reading your stories of a time and industry so unfamiliar to me yet so interesting and awe inspiring.
Melissa W
Louis- your story: SUPERB!
Thank you for sharing the photo and the memories.
As a young farmgirl in Wisconsin, fashion and Paris were such an out of reach unfamiliar way of life. But, in the eyes of this young girl, I always marveled at the glamorous ladies in the magazines who wore hats, beautiful dresses, gloves, and shoes and handbags that matched. Did anyone really dress like that everyday? And if they did, what did they do all day in clothes like that? Today, your story and photos take me back to a time when in my early career, all I wanted to do when I made my own money was to afford matching shoes and handbags like the ladies in the magazines. Having my outfit and accessories match was a look I wanted to achieve and to this day I can’t seem to break my desire to match – just can’t help it. And today, I read your story with such interest and am thinking, gee, I am reading about you and Jac, the very people I wondered about who design clothes, go to Paris, model the best of the best. That is why it is such a joy to read your stories. You brought a smile to my face as a look at a closet full of Linea clothes and jewelry.
Dear Jackie, that’s a wonderful story. I think we all had similar stories growing up.
I wonder how many of your Linea Ladies traveled the same fashion magazine path that I did: First, “Seventeen” magazine; next “Glamour”; and then “Vogue” and “Harper’s Bazaar.” At times, “Town & Country” or even “Cosmopolitan” and, later, “Marie Claire” might have been thrown into the mix, but the constants in our lives were the giants of our era.
Somehow I believe that we all had a similar route to the discovery of your fashions and jewelry.
Such a sweet story, such special people! Thanks for sharing this with us.
Louis,
This is an amazing photo of Jac. Her face is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing the photo and your memories. It offers us a momentary view into a life so different from our own. What a fascinating life you and Jac have had.
Donna from California
Louis, I popped on here to encourage you to write a memoir as your stories are spellbinding, and I see that I am not alone in thinking so! You share with us information that we would otherwise have no knowledge of and which is absolutely fascinating. Thank you for that.
[In case I am given another’s name, this post is from Goldie 76.]
Dear Louis,
Yes, you really should write up your memories and reminiscences into a collection. The details you know about the fashion world and the people you’ve known from that world should be chronicled for the generations yet to come. Really.
Some of those you have brought to life for us were those in support of the Big Stars of their era, people like the very kind Francis. The stories of these smaller stars should be remembered and told as well. That perfume bottle collection. Whoa! So impressive.
Jac’s eyes had such depth, didn’t they?
Please write your stories. Thank you for taking the time to introduce us to the inhabitants of the world of couture.
Love reading these stories of a time in fashion which will never come back again. Do fashion designers still measure the models for their couture lines? I agree, you should write a book about the fashion industry during your time at AK & about Jac’s adventures in Europe.
Yes Chris, the Couture hasn’t changed. It is sacrosanct. That is the beauty of the Couture. If they change it, it isn’t true Couture anymore.
Zac’s extreme outer beauty was only surpassed by her inner beauty. Thank you for sharing this wonderful story.
JAC of course. Lesson learned….wear my glasses.
What a fabulous story and wonderful memories of a great friend! How striking Jac looks in this pic! She was such a handsome woman.
Louis, It is remarkable the memories a photograph can evoke! I too enjoy reading your stories about you and Jac and your wonderful life together!
Seka.
Louis,
I just love reading your stories. Such neat pictures of Jac! Such fond memories. Thank you for sharing.
What a great story! I have to agree with Carol- you could write a fabulous book with your stories about the fashion and modeling industries. Jac looks beautiful in this picture, dark hair and all. You must have been thrilled to get this picture as a surprise from your friend! Love and hugs – Nancy
Louis, you are a weaver of tales that entice us to want more. You are so kind to share your life with us. Each story enfolds like a beautiful piece of fabric, one more lovely than the next. I wish that you would write your stories down or at least, talk into a tape recorder to tell your story. It would be a shame for these to be lost and you are, truly, the only one who can tell it. It would be a wonderful archive for Parsons to have. Your beautiful stories show that you and Jac had a life well lived, so rich, so full. Thank you so much. oxoxox Cat
Thank you for sharing your wonderful memories.
What a tender story! Thank you for sharing the sweet memories.
Louis, You are a wonderful storyteller. Your blog Commentary would make a great book. I know you’re very busy but perhaps you
could get a ghost writer to help you memorialize fashion stories and your very interesting life. I am a big fan of your clothes and my closet is rapidly becoming a Linea closet. Your styling tips and beautiful jewelry have made it easier for me to dress well.