Stendhal, Love and Lingerie

While I was pondering Valentine’s Day – hardly a date to ignore in the lingerie business – I was reminded of Stendhal. Not because great French 19th century writers pop into my head when I’m blogging, but because I recall the passion, talent and poetic undertones of a lingerie project that was designed two years ago by a young fashion student, Miss Line Frederickson.

Stendhal’s view of nascent love and its crystallization, as he described it in De l’amour (On Love), was beautifully reflected in Miss Frederiksen’s lingerie entry for Le Prix Soyelle (*) in 2006. Stendhal had been intrigued by salt crystallization at a salt mine near Salzburg, particularly by the beauty of a single branch after the salt water dried and left it cloaked in shiny crystal deposits. For Stendhal, this crystallization, this illusion of diamonds, was the perfect metaphor for the stages of love. For mutual love to occur there must be a second crystallization, or the love will remain unrequited … as was Stendhal’s experience, unfortunately.

Miss Frederiksen’s interpretation of Stendhal’s words— I call ‘crystallization’ that action of the mind that discovers fresh perfections in its beloved at every turn of events— resulted in a lingerie bra and panty ensemble composed of a silver and winter-white tone-on-tone patchwork of leather, lace and silk, with shimmering crystal accents to illustrate the transformation of the ordinary into glittering perfection as one falls deeply in love.

While Stendhal’s words continue to inspire, his determination to understand the heart is the perfect inspiration for today’s celebration of love.


(*) Over the years, Le Prix Soyelle has been an invitation for students of Esmod, the International Fashion and Design School, to design a lingerie ensemble with l’Amour, Love as the theme. A jury of journalists, buyers and designers judge the design, creativity and technical aspects, and the top ten finalists are featured in a Lingerie Exposition at Printemp’s flagship store on Boulevard Haussmann in Paris.

The 2008 selection is underway; I look forward to introducing several of the finalists in the near future.

Photo courtesy of Intima Magazine