Related: Jennifer Zuccarini, Founder of Kiki de Montparnasse and Fleur du Mal, Talks Lingerie and Luxury
fleur du mal
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Jennifer Zuccarini
“I lived in this space for eight years and then two years ago we converted it full-time into our studio. I spent a long time looking for an office space that was pretty much exactly like this, so it made sense to move everything here. The space reflects the brand well. We’re still more known as a lingerie brand, but our ready-to-wear is growing quickly. We’re about 60/40 now. Everything I'm wearing is from Fleur du Mal. I actually got married in very similar pants except they were white! I got married outdoors in St. Barts. It was a very small wedding and I wanted to wear something that felt very Bianca Jagger. The night before I wore a sheer crochet dress — very Jane Birkin!”
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Original Door
"This space used to be a sewing factory and this is one of the original doors. We decided to keep it as is."
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Inspiration
"I have so many vintage books, vintage magazines and coffee table books. I always look for vintage books and magazines when I'm traveling. I also always keep shoes on hand since we have clients in here often trying out pieces."
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Coffee Table
"These are a few knickknacks left over from when I lived here and more inspiration sources. I bought that gold piece at a flea market eight or nine years ago when I was in Canada — I was like, 'I'm taking this back to NYC, I don't care if it weights 10 pounds!'"
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Mood Board
"This is the current mood board we're working with. I'm always looking for vintage finds on eBay and I just found these burlesque bottoms. I love to source vintage. Fabrics are also a huge inspiration. I go to the big fabric shows in Paris — we try to share fabrics between our lingerie and RTW lines — and I usually think of a theme while I’m there and things then sort of all come together.”
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Bar
"This bar was left over from when I lived here, but we actually use it all the time. We often host events and private shopping here and the bar makes it more fun."
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Sources
"I love Polaroids. I'm always taking them of the people that come in and out of the space and when we're on our various shoots/hosting events. The neon item is Le Book, which I was recently sent. It's a great resource for stylists, photographers and other creative types."
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Kitchen
"We actually use the kitchen fairly often. We had a Japanese-themed event to go with a recent Japanese-inspired collection and we constantly had food coming out of the kitchen!"
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Fall 2014
"These are some samples from our collection for next season. I approach lingerie as fashion. So often women treat lingerie as something they should hide — seamless this and seamless that — I’m not opposed to a bra peeking out or a little panty line here or there! I’m wearing one of our front strap bras at the moment and it’s a favorite layering piece of mine. Lingerie shouldn’t always completely disappear underneath your clothes.”
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Fall 2014 Top
"I love this top though it's probably best for smaller chested women. In general our sizing runs closer to the European luxury brands, so a small here will likely be smaller than a small at a retailer like Victoria's Secret."
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Current Season Samples
"These are current season samples. We keep some stock here because of all of the events we host. Most of our orders ship from our warehouse, however. As for our fabrics, since we use so much lace, most of them come from the top luxury lace mills in France, but we also source fabrics from Japan, Italy and a few other places."
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Workspace
"This is my personal workspace — it's a little cluttered at the moment!"
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Design Area
“This was originally a bedroom, but we needed more space, so we put in a desk — it’s a work in progress. Right now we use it as a design space and changing area when clients come by.”
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Souvenirs
"I love that clock! I got it in Tokyo, but it made such a loud ticking noise, I had to take out the batteries."
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Bra in Progress
"Sometimes we draw things out using CAD, but I actually prefer pinning things this way to test out fabrics and see which colors work best. This is an existing bra, but we're going to be launching it in new colors. We're looking for the perfect red!"
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Bar Cart
"This bar cart is from a pop-up we did on Bastille Day; we used it to serve cocktails!"
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Fireplace
"I love this fireplace, but I haven't used it since I turned this space into my work studio — too risky!"
