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JOHN DE MADEIROS Dean of Beauty Goes Fashionable By Janie Lewis
Palm Beach is about to experience the marriage of beauty and fashion in the Esplanade once again. John de Medeiros has longed to return to Palm Beach where he began his career at Georgette Klinger. Ten years of perfecting the beauty business behind the imposing silver double door in Bal Harbour and Palm Beach gave De Medeiros the edge. Eventually he was recruited to do the makeup for models in fashion shows at Martha's boutique on Worth Avenue . This led to developing lipstick shades for the designers whose collections were featured at Martha's. When trunk loads of Halston and Valentino creation were unpacked and wheeled out before him, he caught the fashion bug. He loved being part of the scene Martha had created in Palm Beach . Georgette Klinger and Martha Phillips became his mentors early on. While in his twenties, he left his homeland, Portugal , for New York via a short stop in Rhode Island . Trying to make a go with his designs, he would often dress in his own menswear equivalent while toting his sketchbook around to the shops. Naïve yet energetic, he thought that he would be “discovered” on Madison or Fifth Avenues and land a job in design. He walked right into Martha's on Park Avenue , where his love of glamour took root. Realizing that he adored both fashion and beauty, he was determined to fuse them. He was called upon to run the Georgette Klinger in Bal Harbour and came to Palm Beach to open on Worth Avenue the following year. The location just down the street from Martha's created a terrific synergy as de Medeiros contemplated bringing the best of both together. There was the intoxicating drama of fashion shows, when Elsa Peretti would flip open an alligator valise full of her curvilinear minimalistic gold jewelry to accessorize Halston's ultrasuede sportswear. Everyone was agog with this new unpretentious look, thus transforming the pair of designers into stars. When Mary McFadden came to town to show her Grecian-inspired gowns, de Medeiros was there as well to witness the ebb and flow of timeless fashion. He may have become all the more motivated to do fabulous makeup as McFadden's pale powdered visage is a statement maker. Those where heady days as south Florida became a destination, the ladies dressed impeccably for luncheons and swanky evenings. De Medeiros was on the scene orchestrating looks every step of the way. His knack for matching blush, lip color and contour with satin and charmeuse gowns creating a knock out color field turned into his signature coup. He became the image-maker by creating beautiful faces in concert with coif and dress. “The perfect dress requires the perfect haircut” is a mantra that resonates throughout his philosophy. He goes deeper, explaining that how you carry yourself reflects your inner being. He says, “You have to feel like a princess when you wear the right dress. It brings out your soul.” The face, body and soul were at the top of the list when de Medeiros opened the original day spa in Boca Raton . As there was nothing of the kind in the area, he started the trend. He developed his won line of makeup, skincare and hair care products for the salon and spa. When you open the door of this airy 5,300-square-foot space, the upscale boutique is stocked with sportswear and evening wear front and center. The hair and nail salon is located in the middle area and a variety of treatments and massages are offered in a warren o private rooms, which compose the serene inner sanctum. Once established as a beauty-fashion epicenter, de Medeiros called upon Lynn Manulis, Martha's daughter, to fill the boutique with upscale evening wear, bridal wear and accessories. Trunk shows presented the finest in each category. Bringing the best of Palm Beach style to the Addison Court shopping area, which borders on Delray Beach , was genius. Shiny “H” buckled belts that are part of the breezy chic uniform seen on the island found their way onto waistlines in the southern part of the country, thanks to the combined vision of the two merchants. Styles were introduced to a community that learned that the height of sophistication is quality fabrics and simple design. The crowd was thrilled to have a stylish “Martha” outpost they could call their own without having to brave the drive northeast. Now the spa/salon will continue in its original location highlighting beauty treatments. The John de Medeiros International Boutique will offer his label as well as Jackie Rogers, Cassin-Genobia, Gail Garrison, Robert Danes, Lila Rose and Yoly Munoz. By introducing younger designers, they have an opportunity to present their edgy looks. He completes the total presentation by filling the shelves with his beauty products and a sampling of jewelry and accessories in the Esplanade store. His concept of giving exceptional service is based on giving the customer what she wants. Whether it is the bodice of a gown that requires last minute adjustments of finding the right sandals to match, de Medeiros is elated to have the opportunity to create a head-to-toe glamour. He has culled the best of his experience and retail prowess and
translated into the International Boutique, continuing the tradition
of superlative quality. By dint of his loyal clientele in Boca,
the John de Medeiros Palm Beach fashionable venture is a reality. LEGACY REBORN Owner of soon-to-open Esplanade boutique reflects mentor's retail roots
By STEPHANIE MURPHY Daily News Business and Real Estate Writer
Like a lot of other people, John de Medeiros was disappointed to hear about the summer closing of the Martha Phillips boutique on Worth Avenue . But he isn't letting go of her legacy, because the latte Martha Phillips was a mentor to de Medeiros, who associates her with retail at its finest, he said. On Nov. 1, he will open the John de Medeiros International Boutique in The Esplanade. He's taking the space vacated in June when Phillips' daughter, Lynn Manulis, closed the last remaining Martha's boutique and dissolved the business –ending an era in Palm Beach retail that began in 1945. A native of Portugal , de Medeiros was on vacation in the Azores when Martha's closed. By the time he returned, he had finalized plans to open a Worth Avenue shop for women's fashions. His concept is the “total look for any hour” – luncheon, after-five, cocktail and evening gown. He will introduce the John de Medeiros label, “our own designs, custom-made,” and will carry the work of other designers an present their trunk shows. “He will refurbish and make it his won, for a high-end ladies apparel shop, plus cosmetics and skin care,” said Robert Saffran, vice president of leasing The Goodman Co. , which owns The Esplanade. The 3,425-square-foot boutique also will carry jewelry and accessories and the John de Medeiros like of makeup, skin-care and hair-care products that he developed for his spa and salon in Boca Raton . That 5,300-square-foot operation will continue as is: full-service beauty and spa treatments with a small fashion boutique on one side. “It's kind of ironic. A lo of designers now want to do spas. What I want to do is fashion. I want to get back to my dream,” said de Medeiros, smoothing out the sheer skirt of a romantic black tulle gown. De Medeiros also wants to get back to Palm Beach . “It's always been in my heart to return,” he said. Before opening his first salon in 1987 – and later, a companion salon in Newton , Mass. –he worked in Palm Beach for many years. As a teenager, he emigrated to Rhode Island , then moved to New York , where he met Phillips and began a 10-year career with Georgette Klinger. He also ran her salon at Bal Harbor , and from there came to Palm Beach to open the Klinger salon on Worth Avenue . “They are two the two mentors that I took the most from. I was doing makeup for Martha's models or developing a lipstick for a designer,” he said. He had known Phillips during her heyday of designer discoveries – when her eagle-eye and sixth sense led her to showcase the designs of then-unknowns such as Halston, Valentino and Carolina Herrera. “I was part of what Martha did in Palm Beach , ad later she would visit me in Boca Raton ,” he said. Some people in town recall working with de Medeiros in the early 1980s. He was running the Georgette Klinger salon when Eiko Medecke came to work there as a skin specialist and aesthetician. He was her supervisor for more than five years, when he left to open his own salon. “John is just excellent and very honest. I've never seen anyone with his eye for makeup. He knows exactly what men want to see on a woman,” said Medecke, who has worked at the Klinger salon more than 20 years.
‘Cosmetic ability' Jesse Newman, who was president of the Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce from 1971 to 2000, called de Medeiros “an artist in his own right. He was one of the pioneers in cosmetic ability. People trusted him, and he became a tremendous expert in the field. Now, he's going toward fashion, and people are looking forward to his reappearance.” In 1999, de Medeiros relocated to the new Addison Court retail center near Delray Beach , where he has a corner location with marble floors, designer lighting sconces and upscale furnishings. After establishing a line of makeup, skin-care and hair-care products, de Medeiros wanted to expand the focus to fashions. About four years ago, after trying a venture with a Vero Beach retailer, de Medeiros invited Lynn Manulis to open a Martha's outlet inside his salon. During that venture, the shop presented trunk shows of evening wear and bridal gowns by David Cobell of the Robert Legere Collection, handbags by Moo Roo's Mary Norton, jewelry by designer Masha Archer, and the At Home Collection by Teresa Graham, a house model at Martha's in Palm Beach for a dozen years.
Manulis pleased “It's lovely that my good friend, John de Medeiros will occupy the space that Martha and I had,” Manulis said. “John certainly understands the quality and specialness that Martha stood for, and he'll continue it even more.” She said her mother was “a terrific mentor who was so fond of John. In my view, he can be called a wizard in his ability to make anyone, woman or man, transformed into their very best.” De Medeiros isn't trying to be Martha Phillips or Lynn Manulis, but he's not willing to lose their luster: “That retail heritage is something I incorporated into my salons, and I expect to have it here: beauty, top quality and personal service under one roof.” For the new space, he retained Interiors by Patrice Cury, whose principal is the sister of Palm Beach real estate developer Ed Cury. “He's looking for Palm Beach elegance,” Patrice Cury said. “His designs will reflect the traditions that Martha had – elegant, personal and private. He wants people to walk in and be comfortable, like it's a home instead of a store.” She has ordered high-end Masland carpeting in a soft cream color to complement hardwood floors, mahogany furnishings, columns and faux-finish wall treatments. “The layout is perfect for him,” Cury said. “It will pick up accents of rich bronzes and golds, and rich coral colors. The theory is a backdrop to complement his clothing, not detract from it. “There's no question that his ties with Martha and Lynn are at work here. He doesn't want to lose that elegance.”
• Published by the Palm Beach Daily News Sunday, October 5, 2003 Business, A6
Phone: 561-988-8989 International Boutique SPA / Salon
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