FARIDA KHELFA THE WORLD FAMOUS PARIS MUSE AND FACE OF SCHIAPARELLI

FARIDA KHELFA
THE WORLD FAMOUS
PARIS FASHION MUSE
AND FACE OF
SCHIAPARELLI

MIKE KAGEE FOR WORLD FASHION TRENDS

www.schiaparelli.com
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To be called a muse is a dubious compliment
these days as it implies that you don't have
any other work but the world famous 
51 year old model, actress and filmmaker
with French and Algerian roots discovered
at a nightclub by Jean Paul Gaultier as a 
16 year old girl and loved by many other
iconic designers Azzedine Alaia, Thierry Mugler
among others including famous photographer
Helmut Newton and a curious fact is that 
the beautiful Farida Khelfa is proud to acknowledge
that the first person in Paris she met was the
famous designer Christian Louboutin
BY MIKE KAGEE 

              The Italian mogul Diego Della Valle
              showed up at the Met Costume Gala
              on the arm of the the tall Farida Khelfa
              and news of the Schiaparelli revival
              coincided with the opening of the
              Schiaparelli Exhibit at New York's
              Metropolitan Museum of Art

  
     Farida Khelfa was handpicked by Della Valle as
     the face of Schiaparelli and Khelfa's new role
     would be setting the tone and spirit of the house

    Home to the surrealist- fashion designer
    Elsa Schiaparelli until the second World War
    21 Place Vendome in Paris is filled with legacy.
    Her revival Coco Chanel lived permanently in
    one of the suites in the luxury hotel Ritz next door.
    Complete with creaking parquet flooring and 
    massive windows boasting spectacular views.
    Schiaparelli's fashion house has recently opened
    its doors to the public. The walls are covered in
    Elsa Schaparelli drawings as well as surrealistic
    masterpieces, and there is velvet chaise lounge
    chair so shockingly pink that everything else in 
    the parlour simply fades away.
    As Elsa Schiaparelli passed away forty years ago,
    the beautiful Farida Khelfa has been named
    the brand's new ambassador, it is clear that
    Farida's intense charisma, her short hair having
    a will of its own and the lines on her face imply
    that she lives a life full of laughter.

    Having left her family back in Lyon, 16 year old
    Farida Khelfa arrived in Paris in the late 1970's
    with nowhere to return. When Farida later caught
    the eye of Jean Paul Gaultier her career as a 
    long legged catwalk model was cemented.
    Khelfa later went on to become Directrice
    of Jean Paul Gaultier's Couture Salon
    a powerful position that gave her access to
    both clients and ateliers.