Sunday, October 30, 2016

Luxarazzi 101: Weill

As it has been a pretty slow week news-wise, let's delve deeper into the grand ducal wardrobe with French fashion house Weill, shall we? We shall. While rather unbeknowst in the royal fashion world, Weill actually is the oldest French fashion house still in operation. It was founded by Albert Weill in 1892 after arriving to Paris from his native Alsace. Since 1924, the brand has called a house in 8 Livingstone Street, at the foot of Montmartre, their home. Nicknamed La Manufacture, it was built by Paul Dupré-Lafon at the behest of Robert Weill, son of the aforementioned Albert.

It was Robert's son, Jean-Claude, who introduced the concept of "Ready to Wear", le prêt-à-porter, to French fashion when he returned to Paris from the United States of America in 1950. From then on, Weill has manufactured their clothes in series. Thirty years later, the company opened their first boutique on the Champs-Élysées. Since 2000, the fashion house, who manufacture their clothes in Laon, is managed by their fourth generation of members of the Weill family. They also remain the sole owners.

These days, Weill sells their clothes in about 40 boutiques and many more franchises in France and abroad. And those shopping at their boutiques include members of the Grand Ducal Family: Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie has worn their designs on at least four occasions, while Grand Duchess Maria Teresa did so at least once. Apart from the one in the middle worn by Stéphanie, I'm not the biggest fan - are you?

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