Someone unversed in the ways of fashion would have trouble accepting that Jean Colonna comes from the world of haute couture. Indeed, his work seems to fly in the face of the conventional notions of luxury. Closer examination reveals that his style is in fact based on a subtle mix of couture and ready-to-wear. His label, launched in 1987, did not achieve widespread recognition until 1993, when the grunge phenomenon in fashion veered towards glamour.

Many are the designers who have learned a lesson in elegance from this former Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture student and ex-assistant in Pierre Balmain’s studio. Colonna sharpened his sense of the “right look” working as accessory designer for Thierry Mugler, Claude Montana and Jean-Paul Gaultier in the eighties, before undertaking in-depth work on image.

His first collections were presented in the form of catalogues, with visuals by photographers such as Bettina Rheims in 1987 and Stéphane Sednaoui in 1988. In 1993, he collaborated with La Redoute and le Printemps department store. In 1996 he signed an exclusive distribution licensing contract with Kashiyama and an accessories license with Muraï. In 1996, Jean Colonna signs a licence of exclusive distribution with Kashiyama of Japan. The following year, he arranged for Italian distribution with the firm of Gibo and the first Jean Colonna store opened in Tokyo.

In 2009, Morgan and Ramosport asked him to design limited editions.
In september 2009, Colonna comes back with his brand Jeancolonna and a new concept made of universal basics such as tee shirts and tops 100% silk, 100% cotton, …

Unlike many designers who dream of dressing “strangers in the street”, Jean Colonna embodies this desire in his principle: “You don’t sell elegance with the design… It’s a matter of balance between you and the garment.”

The name chosen by this former Esmod student for his label, ” José Lévy à Paris “, has everything to do with his style. Indeed, Lévy could only blossom as a designer in this capital of design, alive with childhood memories from the seventies and nostalgia for the fifties and the Paris captured by Robert Doisneau.
He presented his first collection for winter 1988-1989. Since then, the creative world of José Lévy has gained a following as a refreshing contrast to the traditional austerity of men’s clothing design.

At a time when everyone was wearing shoulder pads and the body-builder’s figure was the ideal, Lévy took men’s fashion in a new direction, infusing it with poetry and charm. Jose Levy was awarded ANDAM fellowship in 1991 and grand prix of the city of Paris in 1996 at a time when he was expanding his activities to include women’s fashion and accessories.

Within thirteen years, he has made his mark on the male fashion scene with his own label, José Lévy à Paris, and asserts himself as a one of a kind colorist as much as a sharp-eyed tailor. In the same breath, he collaborated with household names like Cacharel (1993-1994), Nina Ricci (1994-1996), Holland & Holland (1998-2001), Emanuel Ungaro (2004-2006), and design offices such as Mafia, Peciers or Nelly Rodi (1984 to 1990). Aiming to reach a larger audience, José Lévy also designed exclusive products for 3 Suisses, Woolmark, Japanese Jeans Group Edwin (1997-2000), Monoprix (1997-2002), La Redoute in 2003, , or André : a free spirit with an inquisitive, eclectic yet concentrated style.
Right from the early days of his career, he has also frequently lent his highly individual eye to collaborations with numerous artists -photographers and/or contemporary artists- like Jack Pierson, Gotscho, Nan Goldin, Parenno, Jean Pierre Khazem, The Kolkoz ; architects such as Xavier Gonzales, or musicians like Jay Jay Johanson and Benjamin Biolay-.

Since 2007, he dedicates himself fully to this crosswise creation in between plastic arts, design, scenography, interior design .

In January 2009, Emmanuel Perrotin’s Gallery exhibited “Oasis: Luconoctambul!” a personal show of his designs (furniture, luminaries…), participated to the group show “Carpet stories” at the ToolsGallery and was invited to the the scénography at Maxalto for DesignersDays . La Manufacture de Sèvres also exhibited a personal show “Mousse de Sèvres”, he designed MaPharmacie a pharmacy in Paris-Bastille.

The creation of jewellery is but one chapter in the history of the object that Hervé Van der Straeten has been writing since 1985, starting with furniture and interior design. This former student of the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris does more work in painting and sculpture than in fashion design.

Remaining aloof to the seasonal cycles and trends of the fashion world, he has created a distinctive style which is recognisable by its generous volumes, rich materials and evocations of a world inspired by Matisse and Cocteau. He is especially fond of natural materials like semiprecious stones, crystal and ceramic, sometimes working with hammered metal, antiqued brass or gilt bronze. This rich palette of warm, glimmering tones gives rise to spectacular, lavishly baroque shapes inspired by nature and mythology.
The list of couture houses and designer labels which have commissioned projects from him since 1985 is most impressive: Yves Saint Laurent, Thierry Mugler, Christian Lacroix, Karl Lagerfeld, Martine Sitbon, Pierre Balmain, Guy Paulin, Rifat Ozbek, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Sonia Rykiel, Chloé, Lanvin, Givenchy, Jean-Paul Gaultier, and many more.

Philippe Model gave him his first sales space in the Marché Saint Honoré shop, and the Hervé Van der Straeten label soon met with sensational success. At the same time, he continued to be very active in the theatre and cinema world. He took advantage of his 1991 ANDAM fellowship to further develop his fashion projects.
Starting in 1992, Van der Straeten branched out to interior design, working with prestigious houses such as Bernardaud, Saint Louis and Arthus Bertrand.
He has also created fragrance flacons for Nina Ricci, Dior and Lanvin.
The opening of a spacious store-workshop in 1999, functioning as both exhibition space and sales outlet, allows him to display all the different facets of his work in jewellery, decorative objects and furniture. Thematic exhibits have enabled guest artists like Thomas Boog, Olivier Gagnère and Jean-François Lesage to share this space.

At the height of the grunge movement, Véronique Leroy burst onto the fashion scene with a courageous goal: to relaunch the flashy elegance of the disco era in a return to structured designs that hark back to the designers of the seventies who exalted the Body Beautiful.

The style of this Belgian-born designer prefigured the ” glamour ” trend that emerged in the mid-nineties. Nothing is too stunning to express this vision of a ” fashion of the stars “. The materials conceal the body to heighten the suspense, clinging tight to accentuate suggestive curves punctuated by carefully placed anatomical cutouts. The exuberance of the forms is tempered by a dose of austerity in the palette of colours.

This rigor can be seen as a reflection of her background: after studies at the Institut Parisien de Modélisme and the Studio Berçot, she sharpened her sensibilities at that illustrious school of ultra-Parisian elegance, the one headed by the grand master of the cut, Azzedine Alaïa.

After working as a supervisor for Didier Renard in 1987, Véronique Leroy won the Canette d’Or in Brussels in 1989, and the Courtelle Prize in 1990. She then went to work for Martine Sitbon as a stylist-assistant, and started to create her own fashion designs. Her first fashion show took place in a nightclub in March 1991, and she won an ANDAM fellowship that same year and a second one in 1994. In 2005, Leroy opened her first own boutique in Paris.

Leroy has been consultant stylist for Maison Léonard during 8 years until October 2011 for the Spring/Summer 2012 collection.
Leroy is currently consultant stylist for the brand Mus still 2010.