HAUTE COUTURE

Mouna Ayoub in Chanel

As I mentioned a few posts back… Eleanor Lambert was spending her summer away from New York and when she got to Paris, she met up with her friend Mouna Ayoub. They attended the haute couture shows that summer – which was the summer of 1995.

I remember Mouna proclaiming her love of Chanel during one of her visits to New York. In fact, Mouna Ayoub has owned the largest private collection of haute couture in the world since the 1980s. Her incredible collection is composed of more than 10,000 items, which she continues to add to each season.

I remember Miss Lambert checking in with the office from Paris at the end of couture week and telling us that Mouna bought every single piece from the Chanel couture show that season!

After the couture, Miss Lambert was off… she did not have time to hang around Paris for long, it was only July and she had a busy summer ahead…

COUTURE! COUTURE!

Mouna Ayoub, LIFE Magazine

When Miss Lambert arrived in Paris, she joined up with her friend Mouna Ayoub...

Mouna Ayoub's interesting story starts off like this:

A beautiful young woman goes from her life in Lebanon to Paris, the city of romance. Soon she meets a tall, dark, handsome and wealthy man who, professes undying love and devotion. Soon she is swept away to live in a far-off land (Saudia Arabia), lavished with the most amazing jewels (the world's biggest jewels), surrounded by servants and blessed with children.

Well, that is how the story starts....

COUTURE!

YSL Couture, July 1995

YSL archives

I thought this image was so incredible... that it could completely stand alone.

Miss Lambert was in Paris to attend the Couture shows taking place in July.

More to come on the Paris Couture... including Miss Lambert's new friend who joined her in Paris...

MAINBOCHER

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor on their wedding day.

Before she became the Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson stayed with Eleanor Lambert in New York City and together they assembled Wallis' wedding trousseau. The Duchess ended up wearing a pale blue Mainbocher dress on her wedding day.

Mainbocher (pronounced "MaineBocker") is one of only two Americans who have shown couture in Paris under their own name (the other is Ralph Rucci). Mainbocher established his house in 1929, he successfully operated in Paris (1929-1939) and then in New York (1940-1971). I bet you'll never guess who did public relations for him?