French designer Magali Pascal sells out Emily In Paris dress in a day

On her very first trip abroad, Parisian-born fashion designer Magali Pascal,  then 18, fell madly in love with India.

"My best friend and I went to Delhi and trekked the Himalayas. I had never  been out of France before and was blown away by the culture, vibrancy and  spirituality," she says. "That trip changed my life forever."

From that moment on, Pascal knew she wanted to relocate to Asia. Serendipity  took her to Bali, Indonesia, in 2002, where she still lives today - close to the  black sand beaches in a fishing village north of Canggu. She is married to  Australian Matt Neville, a photographer, and they have four-year-old twins, a  boy and a girl.

"Sometimes, I feel like I'm missing out because my husband spends way more  time with the kids than I do," the 43-year-old admits. "I suppose it's because  the brand is my first baby."

She is referring to her eponymous label, which she founded in Bali in  2004.

Known for its feminine aesthetic and detailed craftsmanship, the brand boasts  sustainability as a core tenet. The designer uses only natural, organic fabrics  like cotton and silk whenever possible.

But it was only late last year, after one of her dresses - a flirty, frilly  lavender number from her Spring Summer 2021 collection - appeared on the second  season of Netflix's hit series, Emily In Paris (2020 to present), that the indie  label was catapulted into the global spotlight.

"We were all shocked and surprised by the attention the dress got," she says.  "It taught me to never underestimate the power of celebrity."

It is a Friday morning and Pascal is impeccably dressed in one of her own  designs for this Zoom interview.

She has come a long way since she was a petite enfant, trawling the textile  shops in the Grands Boulevards of Paris with her late grandmother Josette.

"My grandma introduced me to art and clothes-making," she recalls. "I was  living on the outskirts of Paris, and she would come drive me to Paris and take  me to museums and boutiques every Wednesday. She loved couture, so she'd buy  fabrics and make her own jackets and dresses."

Pascal began seriously pursuing her own dreams of becoming a couturiere when  she was a fashion student at the Ecole nationale superieure des Arts Decoratifs  (Ensad), an art and design university in the French capital. Her first creation  was a cropped jacket.

"When I discovered I could make my own clothes, anything I wanted to wear, I  was hooked." she says.

Today, she has four resort boutiques in Bali, a flagship store in Sydney,  Australia, and a presence in more than 80 countries worldwide, including  well-known department stores like Galeries Lafayette and Neiman Marcus.

The path to success has not always been smooth-sailing, especially during the  pandemic.

"We were focused on building our brand in Bali," she says. "But the pandemic  happened and all these other Bali-based resortwear labels began closing down  because there were no tourists. It was a huge wake-up call for us, so we took  the time we had to pivot, rebrand and expand our international presence."

Things were plodding along until one day last year, when legendary American  costume designer and stylist Patricia Field casually strode into a showroom in  Paris and picked out a dress for a television series she was working on.

"We didn't think too much of it until the poster came out," Pascal says.

The promotional poster for the second season of Emily In Paris caused a  ripple of excitement worldwide. Sure, fans wanted to know what other troubles  the title character, a culturally tone-deaf American played by actress Lily  Collins, would get into in the City of Lights, but more than that, they wanted  to know everything about the dress she had on.

"I got a call from one of the showroom staff saying, 'Oh my god, our botanic  dress has made it onto the posters.' A few days later, it appeared on huge  billboards in Paris and pretty soon, every magazine.

"People reposted the dress and tagged us, and all of this led to a sudden  spike in traffic to our website," Pascal says.

"The Emily in Paris Dress" - as it is now known among fashionistas - sold out  in a day. It is retailing in Singapore at $899 at multi-label boutique SocietyA  in Ngee Ann City, where the brand is carried.

"We don't normally mass-produce our items, but we had to make a special  exception for this dress," Pascal says.

"We ordered extra fabric, but that wasn't enough. Thankfully we had some  fabric left and we worked as fast as we could to fulfil the demand."

She admits that something like this would not have been possible 15 years  ago.

"It was difficult to be taken seriously when you're so far removed from the  world's fashion capitals. But with technology, there are no more boundaries and  people are starting to see us less as resortwear and more as an international  brand," she says.

While Pascal "secretly loves" the series, she confesses that the show's  flamboyant OOTDs do not reflect typical Parisian style: "I love the fashion in  the series, but Parisians tend to opt for clothes that are classic and elegant,  rather than something loud and colourful."

These days, her label churns out modern, clean pieces with a "balance".

"I like mixing feminine styles with a more structured masculine silhouette to  make it more contemporary," she says.

Her muse for the latest season is 77-year-old Nicaraguan-American socialite  Bianca Jagger, a former actress and the ex-wife of Mick Jagger, the frontman of  rock band The Rolling Stones.

"I've been watching a lot of documentaries on Studio 54 and Bianca Jagger is  very sophisticated and laid-back. She has a certain je ne sais quoi," Pascal  says.

Studio 54 was an iconic nightclub in New York frequented by celebrities such  as the Jaggers, actress Farrah Fawcett, artist Andy Warhol and fashion designer  Karl Lagerfeld during its heyday in the swinging seventies.

Among Pascal's future plans is a trip to Singapore.

"I've been there plenty of times to renew my visa. I love shopping and eating  as well as visiting its beautiful parks. Now that (borders have reopened), I  hope to visit Singapore soon to meet my customers."

Magali Pascal shares some of her favourite hangouts in Bali.

Beach clubs

Potato Head in Seminyak "offers something for everyone, with a pool bar,  great restaurants, a library and more".

A smaller beach club is Ulu Cliffhouse in Uluwatu. "The views are amazing and  it recently opened stunning hotel rooms."

Restaurants

The recently opened Santanera in Canggu dishes out South American fusion  fare. "Its interior is different from what you usually see in Bali. You almost  feel like you're in the city."

For fine-dining Indonesian food in an intimate setting, Pascal suggests  Sangsaka in Kerobokan. "My husband and I love going there for date night."

For brunch, she likes Woods, which sits along a quiet road in one of the  smaller villages outside Canggu, "a stunning spot for a brunch with perfect food  presentation". She adds: "It has live jazz on Sundays, so I love going there for  a long brunch."

Another favourite brunch joint is Apurva Kempinski in Nusa Dua. "Surrounded  by beautiful white sand beaches and calm waters, the restaurants here have  incredible service and delicious food. I head here when I want to experience  some Bali luxury."

Spas

Spring Spa is Pascal's go-to for a hair treatment or massage. "The  technicians are some of the best on the island and the spa also has a wide  selection of hair products that you can't get anywhere else in Bali."

She also likes Bodyworks. "Its new location in Seminyak looks straight out of  a movie. You feel relaxed as soon as you step inside."Read more at:cheap formal dresses australia (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) | short  evening dresses australia (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)