The beauty industry celebrates in Paris

PARTY CENTRAL: The beauty industry put on their party shoes with a bang this week. Paris fashion, when the number of celebrations was close to the intensity of pre-coronavirus levels.

Friday evening, the Carita Maison de Beauté organized a party in its flagship store on rue Saint-Honoré which has just been renovated, where Crazy Horse dancers performed in the arched stairwell. Cocktail attendees included actress Monica Bellucci and Jean-Paul Agon, president of L'Oréal, owner of Carita.

Coco Rocha, a model and dancer herself, was among the guests at the beauty mecca of five floors. She had just completed the 101st Model Camp, a masterclass that Rocha teaches models around the world. Already about 3,500 men and women have taken part in the program.

"It's for each model that I think needs to be represented", a-t- she declared. "I had the youngest about 14 and the oldest 75, female and male sitting."

Rocha helps steer models in the right direction, for example to know which contracts should be signed.

"It's also the posing, the parades and all the fun things", a-t- she stated. "But the business side is what we really focus on."

Rocha teaches models about their rights and builds skills.

"I think we need more women who help women, but also models who help the models," she said.

L'Oreal executive Elisabeth Sandager, who was tasked with straightening out the Carita brand, was there , too.

"We guard the House of Beauty," she pointed out. “This is how I rebuild the brand. I need a temple of beauty, where it all started. I wanted to make it a luxury house, also with a restaurant and an apartment. I was inspired by heritage. It's our first real step into luxury."

John Nollet is the artistic director of the Maison de Beauté. The famous hairstylist said he had dreamed of the brand since he was eight years old.

"This brand is just fantastic and unique," he said.

The evening before, September 29, at least four beauty parties were held simultaneously.

Frédéric Malle hosted an intimate seated dinner at Le Voltaire to celebrate his collaboration with designer Pierre Hardy. The two teamed up years ago on handbag sprays and have stayed in touch ever since.

"There's always the dreaded time to do things for Christmas, which I still find so commercial and not so close to my brand. I thought I could ask Pierre to be Santa Claus this time and invite him as a special guest," Malle said. "It's a way to celebrate in kind of our friendship, but it's also a way of celebrating the fact that for many years we had a very similar approach to things. We're both complete modernists, but we're rooted in the past through culture and a love of design."

Malle described Hardy's signature cubic pattern as "modern". "It could have been a Sol LeWitt, but it's still a very classic Roman design," Malle said. "So that's really the epitome of what I love."

For the holiday season, starting in early November, each of its brand's red perfume pouches will be replaced by a red, black and gray pouch with Hardy's design. The interior fragrance pockets will also be reversed and the designer has created a few kits with his oilcloth fabric.

"He made special designs...