Karl Lagerfeld’s Luxury Lingerie Protege is Former Call Girl Zahia Dehar

Who is France’s hottest new couture lingerie designer? None other than  Zahia Dehar, Karl Lagerfeld’s 20-year-old muse and protege who used to be an underage escort in Paris.

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PHOTOS: Zahia Dehar’s Red Haute Luxury Lingerie Show in Paris

Dehar is perhaps best known for one particular client, Franck Ribery. He’s the popular international footballer from a poor background — scarred by a car accident — who married his childhood girlfriend, was a devoted dad and an devout, admired convert to Islam.

When news broke that he allegedly had flown a then-17 Dehar to Germany for a liasion, it sparked one of  biggest sex scandals to hit the French sports world.

But the Algerian-born Dehar, now known – like Madonna – only by her first name, was rescued by Lagerfeld, befriended by Jean Paul Gaultier and fashion photographer Ellen Von Unwerth, and was reborn as a luxury lingerie designer.

Dehar now has her own website (of course) and Twitter page.

PHOTOS: Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2011

Lagerfeld calls her a flashback to France’s 18th-century courtesans, beautiful well-paid mistresses of the rich and powerful, in “a purely French tradition that the whole world admired and copied.”  

Her first big lingerie show was in January 2012. Her second took place during Paris Couture Week in July, in which French celebrities fought for front row seats to watch models emerge from refrigeratores as cupcakes, or wrapped in ribbons as gifts. Dehar herself popped out of a plastic box, looking like a giant Barbie doll.

All we can say is: move over Victoria’s Secret.  Zahia’s lingerie designs are pretty fantastic, plus she’s got a real rags-to-riches life story and some pretty savvy marketing minds behind her. French actress Isabelle Adjani has even said that she wants to do a film about Dehar’s life.

 

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Shoppers line up for lingerie store opening

The lineup snaked around the steamy lingerie retailer’s pink and white glass walls before it even officially opened.

Teenage girls, young women and new moms pushing strollers waited hours to enter the newest Victoria’s Secret location, a dizzying array of colourful underwear, sleepwear, bathing suits and beauty products.

The lingerie chain, known for its in-house intimate labels such as Dream Angels and Bombshell and its Pink sub-brand for ’tweens, has set up shop in the Halifax Shopping Centre.

“La Senza used to be the best you could get around here, but Victoria’s Secret is just higher end,” Krista Keough said while waiting in line Thursday morning.

“Victoria’s Secret is just more luxurious. The store has more sizes, nicer materials and better selection.”

The American retail conglomerate Limited Brands Inc. of Columbus, Ohio, acquired Montreal-based La Senza in 2007 for $710 million and owns 3,534 speciality stores under banners including Victoria’s Secret and Bath Body Works.

After an invitation-only preview Wednesday night, Victoria’s Secret officially opened Thursday morning.

Although it offered the first 100 shoppers a gift, the buzz seemed to be largely generated by the hordes of giddy shoppers eager to set foot in the first Victoria’s Secret east of Toronto.

Katy Brouwer, 21, emerged from the lingerie store with a large pink-stripped canvas tote bag.

For a grand total of $350, she bought a track suit, bathing suit and other items.

“It’s like a department store, you can get almost anything. And it’s really good quality.”

Her friend, Brittani Stanhope, said she perused Victoria’s Secret online but found the shipping costs weren’t worth it.

“The shipping was almost $50 and if a size didn’t work or you didn’t end up liking it, you had to pay to ship it back,” the 26 year-old said, noting that she spent $340.

She added that the in-store shopping experience was glamorous, down to the Victoria Secret’s sales associates that looked like models.

“They have this fleet of super-thin, beautiful girls all with their hair and makeup done up. I guess it’s supposed to motivate you to look good.”

Indeed, part of Victoria’s Secret cachet lies in its marketing promise to make women beautiful, from its Very Sexy collection of push bras to its risque fashion shows featuring scantily clad runway angels.

Regardless of the lingerie chain’s marketing campaigns, Victoria’s Secret is bound to bring more foot traffic into the shopping centre, which has recently added other higher-end retailers such as Hollister Co., Aeropostale and Sephora.

While the Victoria’s Secret in Halifax is the only location east of Toronto, an 11,000-square-foot store is expected to open in a Montreal suburb at the end of the month.

The Fashionist.ca blog reported last summer that the Halifax store is one of six new Canadian locations the American retailer will launch this year. Other new stores listed — all of which have since opened — include three in Ontario and one each in Edmonton and Calgary.

(bbundale@herald.ca)

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