An American in Paris

Ernest Hemingway, the archetypal American expatriate to bask in the existential pleasures of Parisian café-life, once referred to Paris itself as a movable feast. So it’s appropriate that the man behind the most fashionable seat in the capital of chic right now is another American iconoclast, Ralph Lauren, whose spectacular new restaurant, Ralph’s, set inside his equally spectacular new Left Bank store on Boulevard Saint-Germain, is expected to have a full house for Paris Fashion Week. Mr. Lauren’s legendary purity of vision, down to the most minute detail, extends to his empire’s latest outpost, where you can rub shoulders with a clientele that includes Carine Roitfeld, Alber Elbaz, and Catherine Deneuve while sampling a menu that features Black Angus beef shipped over from Lauren’s own cattle ranch in Colorado—that is, if you can beat the two-month wait list for a table.

Photo: Photographed on location at Ralph’s in Paris, July 2010. All clothing and jewelry: Ralph Lauren. Hair Products: L’oreal Paris, including Elnett Satin Hairspray. Fragrance: Notorious by Ralph Lauren. Nail lacquer: Sally Hansen, including Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear. Hair: Syd Hayes/Premier Hair & Makeup. Makeup: Steven Canavan/Jed Root, Inc. Manicure: Anatol/B Agency. Model: Patricia Van Der Vliet/New York Models. Production: Laura Holmes Production.