Shoe designer and former model Chloe Gosselin has traversed the globe and shares how to travel in style
Chloe Gosselin, 38, is the designer of an eponymous shoe line. In less than 10 years, it has become a red-carpet staple and a favourite of everyone from Nicole Kidman and Sofia Vergara to Taylor Swift and the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle. In 2016, she was a finalist for the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA)/Vogue Fashion Fund prize. The former model also acts as creative lead for Musha Cay, a private Bahamian island resort.
She was born and raised in Normandy in northwest France before working as a model and studying art at La Cambre in Belgium. Classmates and friends included Bottega Veneta creative head Matthieu Blazy, Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) creative head Anthony Vaccarelloand Nicola de Felice, creative lead at Courrèges.
Her favourite airline is Delta. “I fly it a lot because Air France and Delta work together” in the SkyTeam alliance, she says. She flies some 80,000 miles per year. Gosselin lives in Las Vegas with her husband, magician and Musha Cay owner David Copperfield, and their 13-year-old daughter, Sky.
If you’re a nervous flyer, a talisman could be the answer.
I was never afraid to fly for the longest time. As a model, I would just hop on the plane and sleep. But over the years, and flying on small aircraft, I had one bumpy ride that changed things: A flight from Florida to the Bahamas.
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I tried hypnosis, which didn’t work. But I met the artist Marina Abramovic years ago at a gala, and we talked. I immediately loved her because she loves people and will ask many questions to get to know you. Some of her installations include crystals she found in South American caves, and she gave me one. She’s a dear friend. I broke it in half over the years, so I kept one piece in my purse and the other in my carry-on. I am an atheist — I hope I’m wrong about God, I want to be — but a little part of me hopes there is some magic in the world that can bring you good luck.
Horseback riding can be therapeutic.
If you like horse riding, which I do, there is a nice place in Las Vegas called Cowboy Trails. I’m an English rider, so I’m not drawn to Western tradition. But I went with friends, and it was lovely: You go to the canyons, and they build a campfire. I want to go to Sirai in Kenya, a private resort where they breed horses, and you can take a safari on horseback. I heard about it from one of the top dressage riders in the world, who’s British — Charlotte du Jardin. You have to be a good rider, so it’s a trip you must prepare for; the adrenaline of being on a horse in the middle of nature is incredible, like galloping with zebras. You can also do it in a jeep, so you can go to see lions. You don’t want to be on a horse for that.
Pack this old-school item to ease post-flight aches.
Back issues are my big thing. When I get to Europe, I usually have back issues from the flight, even if I’m in business class. So I try to use a heating pad. The one my mom recommends is made with cherry pits; you can find it in a natural medicine store in France — a little hippie store — but in the US, you can get one on Amazon. It’s made of fabric, and you heat it in the microwave. It’s not dangerous, like a heating pad with water that can burn you if it gets too hot. It keeps the heat for a long time, and it’s amazing. When I’m staying at a hotel, I ask them to microwave it.
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Sometimes, “semi-private” airlines can be cheaper.
I take JetSuiteX pretty often when I go to California. I love the fact that it’s so minimal. They promote it as a private plane, which it is not. I mean, it’s a small plane, with only about 30 seats. But what makes it convenient is that you don’t have to go through the McCarran commercial airport in Las Vegas because it flies out of a different terminal.
They help with your luggage, and you can have a little coffee. I do a lot of shoots in LA and have to bring trunk loads of shoes and materials, and they’re very good about the extra luggage and weight. You can bring weird-dimension items without it being a problem, and I know many people in entertainment fly with them. It takes no time to get to your flight; sometimes, it’s cheaper than Southwest if you do it properly. And when you get to LA, you fly into Burbank. It’s just super convenient.
Lava chasing can be soothing.
I always love volcanoes. We took a helicopter flight to an active volcano in Iceland. We flew over it for about 30 minutes, but David and his pilot researched the company because it was a bit scary. We landed near where we could see the lava flowing and hiked for about four hours. We could touch the dry lava flow, and it’s still warm. I did the same thing on top of Kilauea in Hawaii, where some lava goes into the ocean. You can fly over and watch it hitting the water, which is safer than seeing it from a boat.
Yes, you can buy that big antique at a market overseas and ship it home easily.
I bought some couches in Paris for my house in Vegas. I used to ship a lot, bringing shoes to the US, and I used Albatrans. I don’t ship as much now, but you can pay a one-off fee to use their service if you don’t have an account with them. They’re used to furniture, especially antiques. My favourite antique store in Paris is in Galerie Vivienne, called Secrets D’Interieurs. It’s full of beautiful pieces — really old things but well-kept and not crazy expensive.
You can learn how to pack a little lighter.
When I did the televised Vogue Fashion Fund, there were 10 designers, and it was produced in conjunction with the Council of Fashion Designers America and Vogue. We had this challenge at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, and they rented the old Coco Chanel apartment in Paris, where we got to show. We had to be at events and dress differently every day, so what I learned to do was have one dress you can wear in different ways. I like a shirt dress, a button-up one; I just bought two from a New York brand called Argent, where the owner dresses Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin. You can do it with a little, flat sandal. You can dress it up with heels, a jacket or no jacket.
Las Vegas is a hub for nature lovers, too.
As a French person, culturally, it was a bit tough for me to move to Las Vegas. But now I’ve found a lot of beauty here, especially in nature. The hiking is incredible, with Red Rock, Valley of Fire, and Mount Charleston nearby. There’s Lake Meade, too. But for a quick hike, which I often do alone, I go right behind Red Rock Park to Calico Hills. You go from light reddish, iron stone to deeper bright red, which makes it look like Disney décor. There’s a lot of sand, too, so I take my dogs there often. It’s about 20 minutes from the Strip, like everything in Las Vegas. — Bloomberg Pursuits
