If you’ve been to the shows in Paris, you simply cannot miss the lady in black with the tall black coif, black headdress, and all black capes and dresses. Fashion designer turned journalist Diane Pernet has been a fashion fixture and an American expatriate in Paris for years. We saw Pernet perched front row at the shows and had her download us on the evolution of her look and her favorite restaurants chez Paris.
Where did you get the spiders broaches in your hair?
It’s an Italian designer called Mario Salvucci. He’s showing here in Paris. When I was a designer in New York many years ago he did the accessories for my collections.
How long does it take you to put your look together?
15 minutes.
Do you ever not wear black?
Yes, look at this! [Shows a silver sequin-embellished top] It’s Dries van Noten.
What’s the craziest reaction you’ve ever had to your look?
Someone once came up to me on the street and asked me, ‘What sect do you belong to?’ You know I do a fashion film festival called ASVOFF [A Shaded View of Fashion], so I told them, ‘I come from Asvovia.’ In Paris, people start humming the theme song from The Addams Family.
What did you dress like before you created this look?
I’ve been wearing this look for many decades, but a long time ago. I was wearing colors and prints. I was a designer in New York for 13 years with my own brand so in the beginning, I was always wearing the colors and prints in my collections. Pretty early on I felt that what I was wearing was interfering with my designs. It was distracting, so that’s why I started wearing black not because my first husband died at 30. Everybody loves to think that. To me wearing black feels powerful. Anyway, I stopped designing and I moved to Paris 25 years ago.
You’re a true Parisienne! Tell us one of your favorite Paris haunts.
For clothes, I deal with the designers directly, but I have a favorite tea salon, which I love but it’s getting too trendy. You see people there like Emmanuelle Seigner, Roman Polanski, and all of the Voguettes. It’s called Les Deux Abeilles. It’s on 189 rue de l’Université. The food is delicious and homemade. For Japanese, I love Yen on 22 rue Saint-Benoît.
