Diamonds, decadence & debauchery
LE PALACE IN PARIS, 1973
"It was like a church of fashion and dance, wildness and beauty"
Legendary designers, champagne on tap and a sneaky escape route … American supermodel Pat Cleveland rewinds to an epic fashion afterparty.
Le Palace! Everybody wanted to go to The Palace nightclub – it was where you could be a princess or a queen, a show-off or a jester. You could see stars in people’s eyes.
I lived in an old-fashioned atelier on Rue Saint-Martin in Châtelet [Paris] at the time. It was the most rugged area, with all the hookers. I’d give them presents and they’d protect me if a man was following me. When I got home from work, I’d take a nap, get dressed and tootle up to The Palace all glamorous – and never before midnight.
From the outside you saw those shiny doors and the Art Deco passageway with the neon lights. You’d go in the front door but sometimes you’d have to sneak up the stairs, through the office and out the back if two boyfriends showed up at once. That period of time was sexy, androgynous and
