Before we were delighted with the novelty of air conditioning, societies stayed cool with the enduring hand-held fan.  While the history of the coy cooling device is somewhat muddied (the earliest known Chinese fans date back to the 2nd century BC, while archaeological ruins show fans used for cooling in ancient Greece and fighting in Korea), the hand-held fan has woven itself through throughout the courts in history.  Rumor has it that those in the royal court even used fans as part of a secret language (dim, candle-lit images of a bedecked court and its coy mistresses flash in mind).  The thought of peering shyly from behind a handmade, feathered fan makes perfectly good sense when spying the Duvelleroy Collection of folding fans.

Once the fan makers for Queens of 19th-century Europe, Duvelleroy is the only Parisian fan-making house that has survived to this day.  Introduced to Bergdorf Goodman earlier this year, Duvelleroy fans have inspired a revival in use of fans as accessories au courant; and while today’s lady may be batting her lashes whilst texting mysterious subtleties from behind velvety curtain of plumes, the history and craftsmanship devoted to each fan has not changed since the fan-making house began almost two-centuries ago.  To this day, a single Duvelleroy fan can require up to 200 hours of work and craftsmanship, demanding the work and attention of five to ten different craftsmen.  In other words, this is not your buy-by-the-fly Chinatown fan.  No…this is the sort of accessory that floats along the perfect gown, that dreams of devious masquerades filled with devilment, courtly flirtations made from between the bold teal eyes of a peacock’s tail and heady starry nights.  So, if a certain forthcoming Saturday night comes to mind, join us this Friday, November 18 and Saturday November 19 as Duvelleroy’s ladies Raphaëlle and Eloïse present their collections of specialty fans to the Seventh Floor.  For more details, call 212 872 8841.

DUVELLEROY FANS
Meet Eloïse Gilles and Raphaëlle de Panafieu
as they present an exclusive collection of hand-crafted fans
Friday, November 18 & Saturday, November 19
Seventh Floor
212 872 8841