If la belle France wears a hoop skirt, la nouvelle France wears hot pants – - and especially hot t-shirts.

When the Mission Creativité sought out a designer to conjure up its signature cap-sleeved threads, Bordeaux-raised Lucy Baluteig-Gomes, better known as “Rose la biche” was the natural choice; one because her materials are in themselves, natural, and two, because her artisan-quality products and creative edge exemplify the quintessential qualities of the French Révolution by Design.

More than just t-shirts, her products are sartorial spins on the classically cotton. They range from the coquettish “daisy” and “peony” designs, to the more exotically avian “peacock” and “swan” models. The “frou-frou” design, for example, is so smattered with decadently oversized ruffles it looks as if someone applied a luscious, super-sized serving of Chantilly down its front.

Tirelessly innovative, Rose la Biche incorporates pom-poms, fringe, ribbons and boa-like collections of fabric into her flagrantly French creations. The Mission Creativité was drawn to her very visual, distinctive designs, the high-end quality of her materials, and their novel, non-commercial production.

Rose la Biche’s exclusive contribution to the Mission Creativité is an asymmetrical v-neck tee complete with 3 feet of tequila sunrise-coloured tooling that can be tied up into an extravagant bow on the left shoulder. As understatedly elegant as it is innovatively ostentatious, this tee simultaneously channels Sofia Loren and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Though Rose la biche’s tagline is “where nature meets urbanism,” as our partner in the French Révolution by Design, we’d like to add that at the carrefour of the city and country, there is creativité!

For more information, visit www.roselabiche.com

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While in French, the word Mascaret refers to the first wave coming off of a new morning tide. Given the recent stirrings coming our way from the Atlantic, we’d also like to think that it refers to the tidal wave of creativity making its way over from France, most deliciously in the form of Philippe Hardy, owner of “Le Mascaret” restaurant.

Before picking up a spoon, knife, pot or a pan, Philippe Hardy picks up his phone. He speaks with butchers, artisan butter, cheese, and cream makers, vegetable farmers, and local fisherman, to see what their most recent harvests and catches have yielded. Based on the availability and freshness of ingredients, Hardy composes his ever-evolving menu.

Though his mantra is “authenticity, quality, and simplicity,” Hardy’s cuisine is far from the traditional casseroles and ratatouilles of France. His favourite dish to prepare is wild salmon, just fished from the cool waters off of Blainville sur Mer, the Norman sun-soaked village along the baie de la Sienne, where Le Mascaret is nuzzled.

Hardy’s salmon is infused with an argosy of different aromas that are endemic to his native region of Normandy. He is to spices what poetry is to words; his dishes are of a seasoned eloquence -- a fusion of the locally grown peppered with the exotically foreign.

Among the favoured spices used by Hardy are parsley root, parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes, and flowers – roses, daisies, and daffodils. Hardy cooks with a variation of 20 types of tomatoes and 10 variations of salt, all a testament to his lifelong vocation of bringing wholesome, nutritive, and diverse natural foods directly from the land and sea, to the plate.

Having travelled extensively and worked closely with culinary greats such as Alain Ducasse, Joel Robuchon, and Gérard Legruel, Hardy prepares a very refined cuisine that he is incessantly refining. Among his recent culinary quips are crab-filled cannelloni seasoned with liquorice root, foie gras carpaccio with citrus fruit and black cumen, and simmered carrot seasoned with burnet, though his combinations are relentlessly evolving.

On days when Le Mascaret is open, Hardy spends an average of 11 hours a day in the kitchen. When preparing a dish, Hardy takes into account all of its elements; its appearance, its taste, and its smell. He ensures that each vegetable is just at the point of its maturity and that each slice of meat or fish is fragrantly fresh and exquisitely garnished. Hardy’s signature cooking style is “staying close to the earth;” blending all of natural goodness found in his native Normandy to the point at which a meal at Le Mascaret becomes an otherworldly experience.

Hardy’s earthy inventiveness in the kitchen is greatly enhanced by the decorative vision of his wife and partner, Nadia Hardy. Nadia believes that eating in a restaurant should be “an occasion for delicate extravagance; a depart from the ordinary,” and has thus transformed Le Mascaret into a whimsy-tinged epicurean refuge.

A subtle, warm orange glow emanates through diaphanous floor-length drapes, the modern, playfully tear-shaped plates tease the tradition of the ornately gilded gold mirrors and elegantly papered walls. Though the surroundings might suggest a fairytale, plush crimson velvet upholstered chairs and an elegant, ample floor space are a subtle homage to the famed castles of France.

To honor Hardy’s inventiveness in cuisine and celebrate the apotheosis of “Creativité, Révolution by Design,” Philippe and Nadia will be bringing Le Mascaret to New York. The team will scintillate all of our senses with an exquisitely prepared 3-course meal, culminating in a massive display of pistachio, chocolate, rose, and chestnut flavoured macarons.

Though far from majestic cliffs, lush vegetation, and sparkling seas Normandy, Philippe Hardy of Le Mascaret, will be serving up much more than a wave of delight.

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