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Daily Fashion & Runway News
Feb 06, 2008
With Brooke Shields, Amy Smart, and Tinsley Mortimer.
Founded in 1870 in Paris by Joseph Breitman, a furrier to the Russian aristocracy, J. Mendel is one of the rare luxury brands to remain family-owned. Today, the fifth-generation Gilles Mendel acts as CEO and head designer, and the label is now based in New York. In addition to fur, the brand now encompasses a full women’s ready-to-wear line, which originated practically by accident; to detract PETA protesters from staking out his first flagship boutique on Madison Avenue in the mid-nineties, Mendel created simple sheaths to display in the store windows at night. Collections now run the spectrum from luscious chiffon dresses and sleek canvas trenches to tweed suiting and red-carpet gowns.
“Whether Gilles Mendel is designing a sable coat or overseeing the decoration of his New York town house, his sensibility is the same: this designer for J. Mendel prefers tailored lines.”—Susan Campos The New York Times
“I always advocated using fur as a material, deconstructing it to show it in fresh, modern ways. Today, even elegant dressing is all about ease. And since I regard luxury as second nature, I've set no limits in my search for fabrics--or my search for beauty.”—Gilles Mendel InStyle.com
Gilles Mendel