Paris fashion designer/local native Julie de Libran returns to North County for special event

Paris fashion designer Julie de Libran – who grew up in Rancho Santa Fe and graduated from Torrey Pines High School – is returning home on Saturday, Dec. 11, to display her creations for one day in her childhood hometown.

Julie de Libran

(Sylvie Lancrenon)

Libran’s longtime friends Sydney Holland and Diana Malk will co-host the event from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11, at Holland’s Rancho Santa Fe home.

De Libran was born in France, and moved with her family to Rancho Santa Fe during elementary school. Her mother, Corine, ran an interior design business, Voyage En France, and her father, Peter, founded the French Champagne bakery chain, with its first location in Rancho Santa Fe.

She studied couture in Milan and Paris before launching her career at Christian Dior, and later worked as Gianni Versace’s assistant. Her career path has taken her to Prada and Louis Vuitton, and she founded her own label, Julie de Libran Paris, in 2019.

According to her bio, de Libran makes only a limited number of each dress she designs, to “ensure a level of quality in construction and material that puts this collection somewhere between couture and ready-to-wear. Each dress is numbered and sold in a limited series, which eliminates wasteful overproduction.”

The showing in Rancho Santa Fe is one of three U.S. events this month, along with shows in New York and Malibu, said Malk, who met de Libran when both attended R. Roger Rowe School in the Rancho Santa Fe Village. Malk has recently returned to live in Rancho Santa Fe, and she works with Willis Allen Real Estate.

Those interested in attending Saturday’s event can RSVP by contacting Malk at 619-756-9056, or dianamalk@me.com, or at info@juliedelibran.com. For more on de Libran, visit www.juliedelibran.com.