It all started more than a decade ago at the Spoleto festival in South Carolina. He was in a rush to get dressed for a noontime concert when he discovered the only socks he had on hand were a red pair. He wore them anyway, thinking no one would notice. It caused a stir but delighted many. Indeed, it was a hit!

Having found the best place to shop for the world’s best red socks – a shop in the Vatican called Gamerelli* – he began to wear them to most all his concerts. And “Red socks” thus became a Thibaudet trademark. They were his “lucky socks,” so to speak, for they worked like a charm.

But that was then. With the coming of the new millennium, Jean-Yves thought it was time for a change and for new ideas. And so he bade “adieu” to the red socks (and the Versace outfit) that had served him well.

*Where Roman Catholic cardinals get their red socks – part of their dress code, whether or not they’re singing a Mass by Mozart, Beethoven or Bach.