julia restoin roitfeld

>> Julia Restoin-Roitfeld is now the owner of a lucrative, much-coveted Lancome contract — "I guess it’s any girl’s modeling dream come true," she tells Into The Gloss. But a few years back, she wasn't modeling, period — "not at all hoping for anything or thinking about it." Her chosen career is art direction, and she works with a lot of young designers on small budgets: "I feel that's the whole thing about New York; it's all about supporting each other. Designer, photographer . . .  you don't need to choose anything, which is what I like, just being creative." But the modeling has paid off in more ways than one — when she's on set, she observes the set design and lighting: "I need to know this for my clients. Modelling is like a constant internship because I keep learning."

Speaking of sets, that's where her mother, Carine Roitfeld, first met Julia's current boyfriend, 36-year-old model Robert Konjic: "Maybe 15 years ago for his first job, a Gucci campaign. When she found out we were dating she found it funny. I mean, 15 years ago I was 15, so she would never have expected him to date her daughter." She's been with Konjic two years, but, Restoin-Roitfeld says: "I don't think he wants to get married again — he's done it and it didn't work out for him. I'm really close to my family, and I really want one of my own. But the wedding, it's not necessary for me." (Her parents, who have been together 30 years, have never married.) If it were to happen, she says, "I'd want the dress to be by John Galliano. He makes the most beautiful dresses with a fishtail. I wouldn't mind that in satin with long sleeves — it makes the best silhouette. I have him in mind." (This interview seems to have been conducted pre-Galliano scandal.)

>> Emilio Pucci's Peter Dundas dressed both Carine Roitfeld and Julia Restoin-Roitfeld for Julia's intimate 30th birthday party, held at Indochine back in November. He also dressed a W reporter, who he then brought along to the fete. That reporter writes of the experience in W's February 2011 issue: "The music is deafening; the cigarette smoke is blinding; champagne is flowing copiously; canapes are being shunned. The dancing falls into two camps: conga line (Carine) versus on the banquette (Julia)." And later: "When I explain to the hostess [Carine] that I am writing a profile of Dundas and that I’d be grateful for a quote about the dress she’s wearing, she glares at me, then answers extremely slowly, with the labored patience of a teacher addressing an obtuse child: 'Peter made. This dress. For me. It is Pucci. PUCCI.'"

Dundas, for his part, enlightened the reporter on how he keeps his tan: “I’m building this house in Greece, and there’s a fantastic hippie beach where they go nude nearby.…” His thoughts on sex: “The truth is, it’s something that’s incredibly important to me. I think it should be important to everybody. I mean, it’s fantastic. It’s why we’re here.” And how he ends up making such sexy dresses for Pucci: “It’s not that I think, Oh, I need to make the dress sexy. It’s that the body is just so beautiful to me. The same way that when you make love to somebody many times, you notice different parts of the body, and you celebrate them.”

A stylish coincidence is usually an indication of a larger trend at work in the fashion world. So, when Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, Amy Smart, and Taylor Swift all selected sexy black lace for their respective events, we got the hint. This take on the LBD is ultrasultry, styled up with peekaboo, sheer panels or a smattering of sequins. And, while we acknowledge the tendency to shy away from the typical black dress during the holiday season, we'd hardly call this little stunner predictable.

>> Julia Restoin-Roitfeld celebrated her 30th birthday on Friday night by taking over Indochine restaurant in Manhattan. Riccardo Tisci flew in just for the night, and Peter Dundas custom designed Restoin-Roitfeld's dress. "He was the first one I asked, and he said yes right away," she told Style.com. "I said, 'I want red and I want lace, and I want it very short — the rest, do whatever you want.'" The party may be over, but the celebrations haven't stopped — Roitfeld added: "My boyfriend [Robert Konjic] is taking me away on Monday; I don't even know where." [Style.com, Harper's Bazaar, @E_Pucci]

>> Julia Restoin-Roitfeld was recently named a Lancome face, and now her first ad — for the brand's Ultra Lavande Spring 2011 color collection — is out. She also has an upcoming campaign in Asia, for the Lancome Blanc Expert line, set to debut next year.

As for her brother, Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld, he's still doing the promoter thing; when asked recently about marrying his girlfriend Giovanna Battaglia, who he's been dating just over a year, he replied: "I'm very much in love, but my parents never got married and they have been together for 31 years. If you don't get married, you can't get divorced."

And speaking of his parents, Vladimir admitted that despite her position, his mother Carine Roitfeld doesn't have a closet bursting with free clothes: "Actually, my mum has never had a lot of clothes, and she has a tiny wardrobe. She knows exactly what she likes to wear. There's one long cupboard in her bedroom, and you never see shoes lying about anywhere else. I've got more clothes than she has."