FROM PARIS, WITH LOVE BY ELIZABETH KURPIS
IN AN ATELIER IN THE MIDDLE of Los Angeles, over 68 artisans work on every
detail from cutting and sewing to beading and finishings. Over 3,000 hours later, it’s finally finished—“it” being just one of the show-stopping pieces in Monique Lhuillier’s Spring 2018 collection. The gown consists of strand after strand of silver fringe beads—12,000 to be exact—that shimmy and sashay with any bit of movement. A work of art, no doubt, and, based on the weight alone, a workout for some. The mastery behind Lhuillier’s designs originates in her Los Angeles atelier, something that is becoming increasingly rare in the fashion industry. “All the pieces in the collections are American-made products, something I am proud to say, and the craftsmanship is top notch,” she notes during our phone conversation. As one of the few in high fashion to have chosen the west coast as her home SEPTEMBER 2017 105