Fashion Wire Daily - Paris - Elle Macpherson opened her first lingerie boutique in Paris Tuesday, Feb. 2, a giant portrait of the former catwalk queen dominating her large retail space in Printemps' flagship department store.
The 46-year-old Australian model christened the opening of the 400-square-foot space in the basement lingerie section of Printemps, located in the busiest shopping strip in the French capital.
"It's nice to be in Paris after 20 years of other global exposure," Macpherson said in an interview. "When I started creating lingerie back in 1989, I imagined I would be doing in business in Paris within four of five years. Well, it ended up taking me 20. But I finally made it."
Macpherson focused first on the Australian and U.K. markets when developing her business, and in two decades she has built a substantial one. Her Elle Macpherson Intimates line now retails in 450 sales outlets in the U.S. and Canada, 250 in Britain and 300 throughout Europe, though the majority of her business is in her native Australia and New Zealand.
Asked about French women's reputation for caring more about their underwear than women do in any other nation, Macpherson responded: "French women do have this thing. French women are unbashful about using their sensuality and sexuality. And they do it in such a way, that it is not inelegant. It's part of the culture that they use their bodies in order to charm and it does not demean them in any way. And lingerie plays a big part in that."
"Now, what do I do that they don't already have? We do very beautiful, very comfortable, very colorful French lingerie with an American twist or a U.K. twist to it. It's super practical and affordable," she said.
Her collections are produced in China, always using Italian lace, with a design office based in New Zealand, though under the creative direction of Macpherson, the mother of two you boys who lives in London.
Macpherson has also diversified, creating her own body products label, Elle Macpherson The Body. And, in March 2008, she signed a three-year global deal with Revlon as an ambassador and spokeswoman.
Macpherson owns her own brand name, though her lingerie business has been managed though a global license with the New Zealand-based Bendon Group.
Asked about annual sales, she demurs. "I'm not going into that. We were up 20 percent in some markets, though I won't say from what," she said, though wiggling her nose and clearly not pleased to be asked financials, especially as a BBC documentary camera crew was filming her interview.
"The main thing is that we're delighted to finally be in Paris, and Printemps have been a great partner. But the press is a little trickier," she laughed.
