Loulou de La Falaise was a fashion
muse and
designer of fashion, accessories, and jewelry associated with
Yves Saint-Laurent ied she was 63..
[2][3] Author Judith Thurman, writing in
The New Yorker magazine, called La Falaise "the
bohémienne".
[4]
quintessential Rive Gauche haute
Daughter of an Anglo-Irish fashion model and a French marquis, La Falaise was a close friend and creative partner of
Yves Saint Laurent (YSL). According to
The Independent, she helped inspire his 1966 women's
tuxedo Le Smoking and his see-through blouses.
[5]
After more than three decades designing jewelry and accessories for
Saint Laurent, La Falaise launched her own fashion business, designing
ready-to-wear, costume-jewelry, and accessories, which were retailed in
the U.S. as well as two Loulou de La Falaise shops in Paris.
[6][7]
The family's actual surname is
Le Bailly, though members have used
Le Bailly de La Falaise, referring to an ancestral estate, since the mid 19th century; it is typically abbreviated to
de La Falaise.
[8]
The title held by the head of the family, Marquis de La Coudraye, was
granted, by an 1876 act of succession, to the younger son of
Pacôme-François Le Bailly, Seigneur de La Falaise, and his wife,
Pauline-Louise-Victoire de Loynes, daughter of Denis, Marquis de La
Coudraye. However, the title of Marquis was never registered at the
"Sceau de France, Ministry of Justice" and is therefore not valid. The
same goes for the title of Count. Male descendants can on the other hand
claim the title of Ecuyer. The family's younger sons typically call
themselves Count de La Falaise.
[9][10][11][12]
Family
Christened Louise Vava Lucia Henriette Le Bailly de La Falaise and
born in England, she was the eldest child and only daughter of Alain,
Count de La Falaise (1903–1977), a French writer, translator, and
publisher, and his second wife, the former
Maxime Birley, an Anglo-Irish fashion model, whom photographer
Cecil Beaton once told, "You are the only English woman I know who manages to be really chic in really hideous clothes".
[13][14][15][16][17][18]
Three of her christening names honored relations: Louise (her
father's elder sister, who died as a teenager); Vava (one of the names
of her maternal grandmother, Lady Birley); and Henriette (the name of
her paternal grandmother, Henriette Hennessy, Comtesse Alain Hocquart de
Turtot). La Falaise was allegedly baptised not with holy water but with
Shocking, the scent by fashion designer
Elsa Schiaparelli, her mother's employer.
[19]
La Falaise's maternal grandfather was portrait painter Sir
Oswald Birley, and an uncle was
Mark Birley (1930–2007), restaurateur and founder of the London nightclub, "Annabel's". Another uncle, her father's elder brother, was
Henri de La Falaise, (1898–1972), film director and third husband of American actress
Gloria Swanson. Her paternal grandfather was a three-time French
Olympic gold medallist in
fencing, Louis Gabriel de La Falaise (1866–1910).
[20]
Loulou de La Falaise had one sibling, Alexis Richard Dion Oswald Le
Bailly de La Falaise,(1948-2004), a furniture designer, who appeared in
the
Andy Warhol film
Tub Girls.
[17][21]
Upon their parents' divorce in 1950—following Maxime de La Falaise's
infidelities and a French court's declaration of her as an unfit
mother—Loulou and her brother went to live with foster families until
she was seven.
[22][21]
After that, La Falaise was enrolled in English boarding schools, and
"her school holidays were shared between mother, father, and the second
foster family".
[22] She attended a boarding school in Switzerland as well as the
Lycée Français de New York, though was expelled from each due to her rebellious nature.
[23]
Her niece, Lucie Le Bailly de La Falaise (born 19 February 1973), a model, is the wife of Marlon Richards, son of
Keith Richards and
Anita Pallenberg. Her nephew, Daniel Le Bailly de La Falaise,(born 6 September 1970), was also a model, notably appearing in
Madonna's book
Sex; briefly an actor, he is now a professional chef.
[24][25][26]
Career
La Falaise moved to
New York City in the late 1960s, where she briefly modeled for American
Vogue before turning to designing printed fabrics for
Halston. Late in the decade she worked as a junior editor at the British society magazine
Queen, during which time she met Saint Laurent.
[23]
Eventually, she moved to Paris, where she joined his haute-couture firm
in 1972. Responding to a description of her as a Saint Laurent muse in
2010, La Falaise responded, “For me, a muse is someone who looks
glamorous but is quite passive, whereas I was very hard-working. I
worked from 9am to sometimes 9pm, or even 2am. I certainly wasn't
passive.”
[19]
"Her official task was to bring her eccentric style to accessories
and jewellery, and she duly came up with often-chunky designs
incorporating large colourful stones, enamel work or rock crystal".
[23]
La Falaise also inspired Saint Laurent with her inventive wardrobe:
"one week she was Desdemona in purple velvet flares and a crown of
flowers, the next Marlene [Dietrich] with plucked crescent-shaped
eyebrows".
[22][18] In 2002, when Saint Laurent retired, La Falaise began producing her own clothing and jewelry designs.
[6] As reported in
The New York Times
by fashion writer Cathy Horyn, "The clothing line captured much of her
rare taste—well-cut blazers in the best English tweeds, French sailor
pants in linen, striped silk blouses with cheeky black lace edging,
masculine walking coats with fur linings, and gorgeous knits in
perfectly chosen colors".
[7]
She also designed cloisonné boxes and porcelain vases for Asiatides,
[27] as well as jewelry for the boutique of the Majorelle Gardens in
Marrakech, Morocco.
[18][28]
She sold simplified versions of her jewelry designs in a line created for the
Home Shopping Network and created costume jewelry for
Oscar de la Renta.
[29][30] She operated two of her own shops in Paris, one of which was designed by her brother, Alexis.
[6][31][32]
Marriages
Loulou de La Falaise was married twice:
- Desmond FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin,
an Irish nobleman, who died on 14 September 2011. They married on 6
October 1966, separated the following year, and divorced in 1970. Her
title upon marrying the knight was Madam FitzGerald.[33]
- Thadée Klossowski de Rola, a French writer, who is the younger son of the painter Balthus.
They married in Paris, France, on 11 June 1977; the bride wore a
harem-and-turban ensemble from Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche. They had
one child, a daughter, Anna.[34]
Death
La Falaise died at her residence in Boury-en-Vexin, France, on 5 November 2011.
[1] The cause of death was not specified, other than as the result of a "long illness".
[35] An obituary published in
Women's Wear Daily
stated, "According to sources, de la Falaise was diagnosed with cancer
last June, but implored intimates to keep her health a private matter
.[30
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