Shopping - Paris e-guide: The Travel Guide with its Own Website - page 66

Shopping

11 B5

Martin Grant ladylike elegance
44 rue Vieille du Temple, 4ème • 01 42 71 39 49
www.martingrantparis.com Open 10-6 Mon-Fri
Australian designer Martin Grant has been making
clothes ever since his grandmother taught him to sew
at the age of seven. Several years on, he's still
stitching, but now it's in a white and airy showroom
that overlooks a 17th-century flagstone courtyard on
the other side of the world. During his years in Paris -
he's been here since 1992 - the low-key Grant has
built up a loyal clientele, including actress Cate
Blanchett, model Lauren Hutton and socialite Lee
Radziwill (sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis), as
well as hordes of modern girls all over the world.
His clothes are ladylike but sexy, timeless and
undeniably elegant. His frocks (calling them dresses

just isn't right) have a faint echo of the 1950s about
them: a strapless gown with wavy chiffon ruffles, a
belted black wool sheath with built-in cape, a
brocade cocktail dress in which a young Lauren Bacall
would look drop-dead gorgeous. Coats, though, are
his trademark, and Grant cuts them with sculptural
precision (a skill no doubt gained by a four-year stint
studying the art). Recent designs have included a
single-breasted pony-skin coat with leather trim, a
retro-look three-quarter-length tweed and a black
Lurex evening trench. Even in summer, there's always
a super-smart coat or three in the collection. Grant's
clothes are made to hug those feminine curves and
there's just something about the way he does it that
makes the wearer look très , très chic. And that's just
the ticket when in Paris.