The Pallas Show

Though it might sound cliché, Daniel Pallas literally grew up in his father’s Paris atelier. “What is now my wife Veronique’s office was my bedroom back in the ’60s,” says Pallas, 53, who took over his family’s custom women’s suiting company in 1991 and subsequently turned it into the fashion insider’s source for expertly tailored jackets and tuxedos. In 2012, after seasons of designing for the likes of Céline and Balenciaga, the husband-and-wife duo decided to launch a women’s line specializing in le smoking. “Suiting is the DNA of the company,” Pallas says. “We didn’t even try to see if we could make something else.” However, with the help of seasonal guest designers including the model Hannelore Knuts and the 1980s Yves Saint Laurent muse Violetta Sanchez, they have set out to rethink the notion of traditional tailoring, with both sporty and sinuous results. The spring collection, designed in collaboration with the former Balenciaga designer Allegria Torassa and the stylist Niki Pauls—and available at Net-a-Porter.com and TheLine.com—puts a fresh spin on the Pallas aesthetic. “We wanted to do something that was elegant but not so strict,” explains Torassa, who, together with Pauls, hosts Cicciolina, the gritty Paris Fashion Week party at Folie’s Pigalle. They conceived a three-piece suit in shocking pink, and overalls in silver Lurex, effortlessly styling many of the looks with a crepe T-shirt. Says Pallas, “Add a pair of Nikes, and you have the cool way to wear a tuxedo.”