Names, Places and Such
For those of you not aware of the anime or manga, the names may get confusing.
Places and Such
Paradise Kiss: A brand of clothing made by four Yazawa Gakuen students after school. George, Isabella, Miwako and Arashi would get together to design and sew garments, but they only sold one dress by the time they graduated.
Atelier: The headquarters of Paradise Kiss. It used to be a bar owned by George's uncle, but when it closed down they converted it into their work space.
Yazawa Geijyutsu Gakuen: A special high school for the arts in Tokyo, called Yazagaku for short.
Seiei Academy: A prestigious, private high school.
La Maison de Dernière Mode: The House of High Fashion in Paris, France. A haute couture brand that promotes the work of rising stars in the fashion world. Only the most promising are sent here to put their education into practice.
Characters
Serge "Ren" Alençon: Original character. A designer called "Mr. Renaissance" of La Maison de Dernière Mode. He is named after French serge; a soft, finely woven fabric which was used during the Middle Ages. Alençon refers to Alençon lace, which is an elaborate needle-point lace, sometimes called the "queen of lace," that originated from Alençon, France in the 16th century.
Kaori Aso: Graduated from Yazagaku where she won the fashion competition in her second year, thus winning a scholarship to study abroad. She's residing in London as a fashion designer.
Dalia "Madame Delaine" Delaine: Original character. The president and head fashion designer of La Maison de Dernière Mode. Delegates projects based on genre of style, thus the nicknames of her employees. Dalia gets her name from the Lithuanian goddess of weaving and fate. Her surname is French for of wool.
Suguru Hayasaka: Child prodigy and Yukari's younger brother.
Yukari "Caroline" Hayasaka: George's former girlfriend. Arashi recruited her to model for Paradise Kiss and she ended up sticking with it as a career. Miwako gave her the name "Caroline" and that stuck as well. Isabella calls her "Carrie" for short. Graduated from Seiei Academy.
Seiji "Kisa-Kisa Seiji" Kisaragi: Dropped out of Yazagaku to become a make-up artist and hairstylist. His close friend Mikako refers to him as "Kisa Kisa Seiji" because he sparkles.
Johji "George/Goth" Koizumi: Yukari's former boyfriend. Friends call him George for "style," but his parents and their friends call him Junior. He founded a fashion brand called Paradise Kiss with three fellow Yazagaku students, but after graduation he left to pursue a career as a fashion designer in Paris. There he is referred to as "Mr. Gothic" in La Maison de Dernière Mode.
Yukino Koizumi: George's Mother, mistress of Joichi Nikaido, friend of Rozue and a former model.
Arashi Nagase: A former member of Paradise Kiss, musician, Yazagaku graduate, Miwako's childhood friend and boyfriend.
Risa Nagase: Arashi's mother, friend of Mikako, musician, and Yazagaku graduate.
Takeshi Nagase: Arashi's father and musician.
Joichi Nikaido: George's father and business tycoon.
Ludwig "Mod" Osnaburg: Original character. A designer called "Mr. Modernistic" of La Maison de Dernière Mode. I chose (H)Ludwig for its similarity to Hulda, the matron of spinning in Germanic folklore, who taught the secret of making linen from flax. Osnaburg is a coarse type of plain textile fabric, named for the city of Osnabrück, Germany. It was originally made from flax yarns.
Arianna "Classy" Rosamond: Original character. A designer called "Mlle Classic" of La Maison de Dernière Mode. Arianna is the Latin form of Ariadne, the Greek mythological figure who gave Theseus a ball of red fleece thread she was spinning so he could find his way back out of the labyrinth. As for her surname, Rosamond was one of the translations of the princess in the Grimm's Sleeping Beauty, who had pricked her finger on a poisoned spindle and fell into an enchanted sleep. This translation was possibly influenced by Perrault's version.
Miwako Sakurada: A former member of Paradise Kiss, Yazagaku graduate, an employee of Happy Berry, and Yukari's best friend.
Penelope "Misc" Schappe: Original character. A designer called "Mlle Miscellaneous" of La Maison de Dernière Mode. Like Odysseus' wife whose name she bears, she has trouble finishing her projects. Schappe is spun silk.
Rozue Shimamoto: Former model and Yukari's agent.
Hiroaki "Toku-chan" Tokumori: Hiroyuki's father and owner of the bar, Blue Parrot.
Hiroyuki "Hiro" Tokumori: Miwako's and Arashi's friend since childhood, and Yukari's classmate at Seiei Academy.
"Sebastian" Ueda: Isabella's servant and caretaker since childhood. Though he accepts Isabella as she is, he still refers to her as Young Master.
Alice Yamaguchi: The daughter of Mikako and Tsutomu.
Mikako Yamaguchi: Miwako's older sister, Yazagaku graduate, and the creator and president of Happy Berry.
Tsutomu Yamaguchi: Miwako's husband, Yazagaku graduate, and photographer.
Daisuke "Isabella" Yamamoto: Born as a boy named Daisuke, she's been friends with George since third grade when she first became a crossdresser. They've been making dresses together ever since. Her parents didn't agree with her decision and she was raised primarily by her servant Ueda, whom she fondly refers to as Sebastian. She studied in Yazawa Gakuen, helped form Paradise Kiss and followed George to Paris. I'll be referring to Isabella with female nouns as a matter of respect for her decision to become a woman.