Avril Gau

AVRIL IN PARIS

Avril Gau is not a household name, but if you’ve worn shoes by Robert Clergerie, Chanel, Loewe, Charles Jourdan or Stéphane Kélian in the last 20 years, chances are you’ve worn her handiwork. In spite of her long career, Gau’s beautiful new boutique in Saint Germain des Prés is the first dedicated to her own label of shoes, bags and gloves, and it’s earning rave reviews from Parisian fashion mavens.

Gau cut her teeth with Clergerie in the 1980s, then moved on to Chanel, where she designed 11 shoe collections before going freelance in 1996. Taking her cue from the iconic style pictured in French films of the 1960s and 1970s (think Seberg, Bardot, Deneuve), Gau’s most recent collection reflects the independence and insouciance of that era—with heels just high enough to elongate the leg but not so high as to restrict a woman’s freedom of movement. The sleek pumps, sandals and ballerina flats in top-quality leather, reptile and lambskin are a welcome departure from currently ubiquitous platform stilettos. Gau also offers a sophisticated line of handbags in classic styles designed to withstand both the whims of fashion and the wear and tear of everyday use. In short, Gau’s leather goods are some of the most intelligent and stylish to be found anywhere in Paris this year.

17 rue des Quatre Vents, 6th, 01.43.29.49.04. website

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Originally published in the April 2011 issue of France Today.