SHOWSTOPPER: Since launching her bespoke business in 2022, Claire Sullivan has created custom designs under her Miss Claire Sullivan label for a long list of celebrities; among the most recent, the voluminous, Bo Peep-like bonneted ensemble sported by Lady Gaga on the Mayhem Ball tour.

Now, for the first time, customers will be able to try on and purchase her designs directly thanks to a trunk show at Dover Street Market Paris this fashion week.

“Everything we’ve done up to this point for Miss Claire Sullivan has been custom, one on one,” said the designer over Zoom ahead of the showcase, which will open to the public Saturday through Monday while the fashion pack is in town. “I have been brainstorming what does it look like for Miss Claire Sullivan to expand,” she said. “How do I maintain that intimate experience that feels so special, where I’m working one-on-one with the client?”

On the store’s basement level, she will be showcasing six core styles including cascading ruffle gowns, a side-opening pouffe skirt and a lace catsuit that will be available to order. The designer and her team will be in situ to welcome customers and take measurements. Items will then be produced and shipped within six to eight weeks.

Sullivan spent four years at Vaquera before launching her custom label. Her distinctive style stance has seduced the likes of Addison Rae, Ice Spice, Kylie Jenner, Hari Nef, Selena Gomez, Hailey Bieber, Chloë Sevigny and Sarah Jessica Parker.

By expanding the concept, she hopes to gauge reactions among a broader clientele. “Part of the reason I’m doing this is to learn,” she said. “Right now, the Miss Claire Sullivan customer is someone who is bold and looking for something they can wear for a specific moment,” she explained. “I’m really open-minded and curious to see who we do attract…What I’m most excited about is to see how people interact with the pieces and how they make them feel.”

Fittingly, Sullivan would then like to take the show on the road, citing cities like Los Angeles and London as well as Japan among places she would like to go.

Asked if it is the first step toward Miss Claire Sullivan ready-to-wear, she said. “It’s something I would consider, but it’s not actively in the works at the moment. We really want to see how this initiative goes and try to maintain as much as we can that core intimate experience. And it’s also a sustainable approach, we’re not producing things that might not sell.”