If you dream it, it is possible. These words could best describe CFDA member Rebecca Taylor’s current year abroad in Paris. Twenty-five years in the making, the New Zealand-born designer and her family decamped from their spacious Brooklyn townhouse last August for a new cultural adventure, aka life in France.
“After I finished fashion school in New Zealand about 25 years ago, I received a U.S. work visa and my intention was to stop in New York for three months and then make my way to Paris for adventure,” the designer told CFDA.com. But things took off for Taylor in the Big Apple. She worked with Cynthia Rowley before branching out and launching her own namesake brand in 1996, which is best known for feminine and flirty nostalgic looks. “Having worked in the same three-block radius for all those years and feeling like my kids were growing up fast, my husband and I decided that it was time for some adventure,” she said. “As my brother always says, ‘We are here for a good time not a long time.’”
With creativity in their veins –artist Wayne Pate is Taylor’s husband – the couple, along with their twin girls aged 12 and a 10-year old son, settled in the picturesque 16th Arrondissement, conveniently close to the city’s American School. It’s a perfect location from which to explore the city’s many riches and endless inspiration.
“Actually, a lot of my design philosophies were shaped by a 1979 family vacation to France, travelling in a caravan camper,” Taylor said. “My mum was a real fashion girl of the 1970s and sewed our clothes for the whole family. I wish I could bring back the Liberty print one-piece smocked jumpsuits she made for me and my two sisters.”
In addition to her mother, the late Karl Lagerfeld inspired Taylor served as an inspiration. As she put it, “Chanel in the Nineties – Claudia Schiffer in moon boots – has always been a reference point for me.”
Still, it’s daily life in the French capital that inspires Taylor’s work. “I definitely can’t help but be influenced by what I see and do every day,” she admits. “It is very freeing creatively and inspiring to go shopping for vintage at local brocantes [flea markets].”
While overseeing the designs of the Rebecca Taylor collection remotely, the designer finds plenty of time to explore the city – from jaunts to Paris’ bohemian Left Bank for shopping or sipping wine at one of the many sidewalk bistros to exploring the Canal St. Martin where, in the heat of summer, “everybody is eating lunch by the banks dangling their feet in the water to cool off.”
Though Taylor misses life in New York at times – egg and cheese bagels, her friends, her dog, her house and even snow – she wouldn’t change this life-changing experience one bit – even despite the Gilet Jaunes movement, the recent fire at Notre Dame, and the death of Lagerfeld.
Taylor has some words of advice for fellow designers who share the same dream: “Just do it. Follow that dream. Learn a bit of French first and research the Visasthat may be available to you as a creative.”
Rebecca Taylor’s Paris favorites
Musée de la Vie Romantique
”The museum is full of beautiful portraits in an old house. The cafe is covered in wisteria and it serves food from Rose Bakery.”
Musée Bourdelle
“An amazing insight into sculpture at the turn of the century.”
Musée Rodin
“It is quite hard to find works by women in Paris and I am obsessed with Camille Claudel. I like to visit her spirit at the Musée Rodin.”
Musée de l’Orangerie
“I discovered Marie Laurencin whose paintings including a wonderful portrait of Coco Chanel are at the L”Orangerie.”
L’Officine Universelle de Buly à Paris
“My new favorite is Bully. Everything about this store makes my heart flutter. I am a skin care junkie and this place is mecca.”
Racine Paris
“Restaurants are bit tricky for me as I am not a big meat eater but when I do, Racine in the passage Des Panoramas is fantastic…I am obsessed with the passage ways. They are so charming and really feel like a little piece of an Emile Zola novel.”
Le Castiglione
“When we have clients in town and we are showing at the Ritz, I love going to Castiglione on Rue St Honoré. High marks here for people watching and the best Sole meunière in town.”
Jardin du Luxembourg, Palais Royal and Les Tuileries
“Hands down my favorites are really coming to life is the spring. But they are all amazing. I love the goats doing the trimming in Les Tuileries, and watching the craftsmen shaping the topiaries.”
Giverny
“I went to Giverny last fall with my sister. It was cold and rainy and the last day before it closed for the winter and it could not have been more magical.”
Chateau de Versailles
“I love scooting around in golf carts with the kids out in the gardens of Versailles.”
Expats Group
“I went to a discussion on women of the resistance. It was me and some older ladies who may remember hearing direct accounts of the war!”
French Lesson
“After some private lessons I enrolled in a school right beside Notre Dame – I had just left class a few hours before the day of the fire. I meet people from all parts of the world there.”
