Her namesake company, of which Bernard Aidan is CEO, has free-standing stores belting the globe, including most recently, Dubai, Istanbul, Japan and Russia. They are currently working on a Las Vegas location, a lifestyle boutique in LA, menswear and fantasy jewelry lines, and her first book will be published by Assouline later this year.

"People say my success came all at once, but I've been at it for years." After training with French fashion legends Ungaro and Feroud, Malandrino moved to New York to work for Diane von Furstenberg. "In that same year, I fell in love with my partner, started my own fashion line, and had my son. New York was so full of energy and imagination, so open. Everything was possible. In the beginning, we were working out of my apartment-just the two of us in a back room," she recalls. "My first buyer came to our home unexpectedly one morning. We were in our bathrobes and served him French coffee. I had to be my own model, and drape the clothes right onto myself."

"I started designing when I was seven years old, sketching in my class notebook. The unexpected continues to drive my imagination," says the designer. Malandrino's imagination, in the course of a single conversation, wanders freely from the Harlem Renaissance to the Wiemar cabaret, New York fashion week to the heyday of Paris' La Coupole and its habitués. And in her work, she draws on a rich brew of influences-from the feathers of her taxidermy pet peacock to the dancer Zizzi Germaine, churning images of the Seine with New York skyline.

She had Harlem on her mind in 2001, for example, when she hosted her "Hallelujah" fashion show at the legendary Apollo Theater, complete with an entire gospel call-and-response choir to capture the flavor of the Harlem Renaissance. "Everything starts with an emotion, a color palette and an image," she says of her inspiration. "I was inspired by the symbol of freedom in the American Flag from the movie Easy Rider," she explains, referring to the chiffon flag dress that shook the industry at the dawn of her career, a patchwork of dissembled American flags that was even compared to Jasper Johns's famed work for its bold comment on patriotism.

Catherine designs with a distinct woman in mind: "She is an individual, a lover and a mother. She travels the world. She marries the romance of Paris with the rhythm of New York. She is ultra-feminine, audacious, curious and adventurous. She dares to use the entire code of femininity to assert her personality-as strength, not as a weakness."

In so many ways, Catherine Malandrino designs for herself-a rare breed whose confidence allows her to stand out and to pull off bird-of-paradise shades with easy grace.

"I see myself as part of this clan of international women living today, women who are poetic and feel strong about themselves. I eat baguettes if I want. I love Champagne. I follow my passions...work hard and play hard," she enthuses, taking a big bite of a ham sandwich. (This ability-to eat ravenously and maintain a Hepburn-esque figure, is another privilege largely reserved for the French.)

As might be expected from a woman who considers love-making to be the secret of preserving youth, there's a strong element of romance that weaves through Malandrino's work and life. "I am very interested in sensuality and the suggestions that are offered through clothes. They express and whisper your feelings; they are part of the unspoken language of emotion."

Never shy about the importance of seduction, she adds, "I want women to be irresistible and strong. These are clothes a man just wants to discreetly take off." In her distinctive, throaty voice and thick accent, Malandrino describes her years with Bernard-the long drawn out seduction of their courtship ... languorous dinners by the Seine and horse-back riding in the countryside, the gypsy towns in France, the trips to Montauk and deep-sea fishing for stripers. And 13 years down the line, he's still seducing her: "He bought me the Aston Martin for my birthday once I found it in Southampton," she says pointing to the vehicle. "I love nothing more in the world than driving on Hamptons roads in this car, listening to Lou Reed's Walk on zee Wild Side."

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Hampton Style Archive