Sibarth

Les Fleurs du MAL

With its provocative blending of fierce femininity with high quality fashion pieces, the lingerie brand is ready to take St Barth by storm.

By KATIE LISTER

St Barth is about to get a lot hotter this high season, but it’s nothing to do with the weather. Fleur du Mal, the NYC-based ultra chic luxury lingerie, ready-to-wear, and swimwear brand is jetting south for the winter. Having just set up shop within L’Officiel St Barth’s newly-opened Le Carré pop-up concept boutique, Fleur du Mal will be in the heart of Gustavia’s shopping district from November through March, gracing the island with its fashionable yet mischevious presence.

The laundry list of Hollywood’s leading ladies wearing Fleur du Mal include Victoria Beckham, Lady Gaga, Irina Shayk, Sienna Miller, Heidi Klum, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, and Bella and Gigi Hadid (just to name a few). Already amassing a cult following around the world, it comes as no surprise that Fleur du Mal has already caused a buzz in the streets - quickly infusing its signature style among local residents and vacationers alike.

The name of the brand says it all. Translated from French to English it reads as “Flower of Evil”: it tempts your eyes with a sultry naughtiness. Its source of inspiration is found in the infamous collection of poems of the same name, by 19th century French poet Charles Beaudelaire, a decadent artist known for spending all his money on opium, women and clothing.

Inspiring women everywhere since 2012, Fleur du Mal’s mission is “to embody the power of a woman’s strength, confidence, and sexuality with fiercely feminine lingerie and fashion.” Jennifer Zuccarini, the superpower behind the company, is also the mastermind behind the highly successful, high end lingerie brand Kiki de Montparnasse, launched in 2006. In 2008, she was enlisted as design director at Victoria’s Secret before launching Fleur du Mal four years later. She has built her empire by designing beautiful boudoir-inspired, body-sculpting silhouettes in combination with sumptuous details that elevate the everyday. At the heart of the House’s DNA is embracing lingerie as ready-towear. The underwear as outerwear trend has remained a constant throughout the decades, yet before Fleur du Mal, the philosophy had never sat at the centre of a brand’s ethos and identity.

“If a woman feels powerful and seductive in her undergarments, it can transform the way she moves through the world, giving her more confidence from the office to a first date.” And if lingerie can have this effect on a woman’s sense of power in her day, why limit it to just her knickers? You would be hard pressed to find another brand that has the ability to take you from day to night, from the bedroom to the boardroom, from the city to the beach, all the while making you feel at your highest level of confidence at every moment.

Karl Lagerfeld once said “Sweatpants are a sign of defeat,” and the pandemic left us all a little defeated. But what should have caused a crisis for the brand wound up being a silver lining: online sales at Fleur du Mal’s shop skyrocketed as the virtues of dressing to lift one’s mood became clear.