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“There Is Something of Myself in Pierre Cadault”

When the very first season of Emily in Paris launched on Netflix in October 2020, the fictional Parisian fashion designer became an instant icon. […]

By Jérôme Kagan
| September 18, 2023

Beyond the Sea

Rita de Acosta: Portrait of an Icon

Throughout the first three decades of the 20^th century, Rita de Acosta embodied an ideal of elegance, sophistication, and extravagance. From New York City […]

By Jérôme Kagan
| August 28, 2023

Beyond the Sea

Sarah Bernhardt, a Scandalous French Superstar in America

Having completed nine tours of the United States during her long career, actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) was probably the most famous French woman in […]

By Jérôme Kagan
| August 1, 2023

Style

Art Deco: Two Decades of Transatlantic Collaboration

If you think that French-American architectural ties boil down to swapping a series of variously sized Statues of Liberty, then you should delve into […]

By Jérôme Kagan
| January 25, 2023

Beyond the Sea

Condé Nast, the Man Behind the Transatlantic Empire

Everyone knows Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Glamour magazines. However, very few remember that Condé Nast, the press group that has become synonymous with elegance […]

By Jérôme Kagan
| September 29, 2022

Beyond the Sea

Florence Gould: The Secrets of a Billionaire

Her name will forever be associated with the extravagance of the Roaring Twenties, with the French Riviera and the Juan-les-Pins beach resort she helped […]

By Jérôme Kagan
| August 25, 2022

Beyond the Sea

Alma de Bretteville Spreckels: The Art of Extravagance

Affectionately nicknamed “the great-grandmother of San Francisco” and “Big Alma,” the six-foot philanthropist put her energy and her fortune into promoting art and enriching […]

By Jérôme Kagan
| June 30, 2022

Beyond the Sea

Alice Guy, Cinema’s Forgotten Pioneer

History sometimes suffers from terrible amnesia. Between 1896 and 1916, film-industry pioneer Alice Guy directed almost 700 movies, each one adored by increasingly large […]

By Jérôme Kagan
| May 25, 2022

Culture

A Mecca for Anglophone Readers in Paris

Set under the elegant arches along the Rue de Rivoli, the Galignani bookstore – “the first English bookshop established on the continent,” as written […]