There was no late night partying for Alexandre Vauthier to celebrate the presentation of his spring-summer haute couture collection. He was in his studio bright-eyed and ready to start designing his autumn ready-to-wear collection first thing the following morning. How does he manage to look so energised?
'Be in bed before midnight, eat well, drink no alcohol and go to the gym or run every day,' says Vauthier, who has the compact muscular physique of someone who enjoys a bit of weight training. He explains that sport is how he handles the pressures of running a fledgling design label.
Vauthier, who's worked alongside Thierry Mugler and as head designer for Jean Paul Gaultier's couture collection, is an independently funded designer who doesn't have a big game plan to launch a flagship shop in three years, a fragrance in five and so on. He doesn't appear remotely egotistical either, which is refreshing in this business. 'I don't think long term, I like to live for the present,' says Vauthier, as he relaxes on a big leather sofa in his studio.
He launched his haute couture label in January 2009 with a distinct architectural silhouette that, he is at pains to explain, should not be regarded as a signature look. 'I wanted to create something very balanced,' he says in near perfect English, 'A strong image, modern and elegant; clothes you keep in your wardrobe for a long time.'
He followed up with a ready-to-wear collection in 2010 and now has 25 points of sale around the world, including Joyce on the mainland and Harvey Nichols in Hong Kong. 'I want to develop slowly but surely, if I can. The best compliment is to see women wearing my clothes; to have that acknowledgement from my customers.'
On the rails lining this lofty 18th-century apartment in Paris' chic 16th arrondissement are the fruits of his labours. By the window is the spring-summer 2012 haute couture collection he showed the previous evening: draped silks, sleek tailoring, feathers and furs in celadon green, white and gold, inspired, he explains, by a bottle of Estee Lauder's Youth Dew fragrance.