Vintage Fashion

When I read the raving visitor reviews on tripadvisor.com about Ulpotha, the exclusive yoga resort and spa where Gaia Repossi will be spending her vacation, suddenly my Chelsea office seems like a hell hole. "I will be in the jungle of Sri Lanka for three weeks! Remember my wonderland I told you about?" she wrote me in her last e-mail. "You should come!" Okay, that was a nice invitation. But unless you run a century-old family jewelry business, spontaneous, exhilarating trips to exotic destinations are not on the immediate agenda over here. Instead I sweat it out in New York and write about the lovely Gaia, 24-year old Artistic Director and prodigy of Maison Repossi.
Even though she has been getting a lot of media attention lately and is seen regularly in the party pages, Gaia's glamorous fashion persona seems a far leap from her private life. Gaia practices yoga almost religiously - she's a very advanced student - and she has a child hood passion for painting. "Painting is always my life and my goal. It's all I've always been dreaming about. I paint every day. As much as I can. My agent says I should sell my paintings, but I don't want to. I paint for me."

Gaia and I met up at her Paris apartment a few weeks ago. She was fully prepared for the visit, had everything laid out and hung up before my arrival and kept notes on each one of the garments. Most of the vintage pieces she showed me belonged to her mother Gio, who was a muse in her day and owned a lot of French Couture. Secretly I suspect Gaia would wear Isabel Marant and t-shirts every day but since her public image is growing, she's taking fashion a little bit more seriously. "I take my work as a big responsibility and I professionally embody the company. A company needs to have a face and moreover a soul."