Fashion Show Crasher: Round One @ Mugler

Bon soir!

I am back from my month-long impromptu hiatus! I apologize for my absence but I am back for good!

As my previous posts have so clearly indicated, I am passionate about fashion. For years, across the Atlantic back in Canada, my only connection to the world of fashion was either through a flip of a magazine page or in front of a screen. When I found myself in Paris for Menswear and Haute Couture, I believed that stalking the shows would be the final extent of my direct exposure to this fantasy world. How wrong I was.

With overwhelming passion and surreal enthusiasm, I can say with honesty that a dream came true last night: I snuck into my first fashion show at Ready to Wear at Paris Fashion Week.

With two other friends, I still don’t quite understand how every piece fell into place but we managed to sneak into the Mugler show for the Fall Winter 2013-2014 collection. Mugler – most commonly referred to as Thierry Mugler – is a fashion house that has gone through quite a transformation in recent decades. Rewinding before the launch of his popular fragrances Angel and Alien, French-born Thierry Mugler reached commercial success from 1980-1990 with his gender-bending, leather-loving, and controversial collections. Today he can be found engaging in many collaborations including designing the Cirque du Soleil Zumanity tour and being Beyonce’s artistic advisor on tour. Since 2010 Nicola Formichetti has been the creative director for the brand.

Below are some of the many photos I took at the event. Due to the lighting, I had problems taking great-quality photos but I think you get the picture.

Mugler: Round One at Paris Fashion Week

Anna Dello Russo spotted! (in the middle)

Check out next week’s blog post chronicling my experience crashing the Sonia Rykiel show!

Bisous,

La fausse parisenne

Parisian Pursuits: A Documentation of My Endeavors

Bon soir!

Before arriving in Paris I developed a list of numerous landmarks and events I would aspire to accomplish during my stay in this beautiful city. I suppose one would call the following list a bucket list but I am not fond of that title for my list’s purpose. A bucket list outlines a number of goals and experiences that one hopes to accomplish in their lifetime. During my stay, I plan on visiting the listed monuments or accomplishing the documented experiences for the first time. Not the last time.

With confidence, I can affirm that my current stay in Paris marks the first of countless trips back to Paris (already depressed at the thought of leaving). Thus I reckon the following list a necessary account of an authentic Parisian experience.

On my blog’s homepage, I introduce you all to a new tab called “Parisian Pursuits” which documents the comprehensive list of accomplished and desired experiences. Since my arrival in the City of Lights three weeks ago, I have realized some of these experiences. Stalking Paris Fashion Week was included on this list and I have outlined my experiences engaging in the stalking-rampages in previous posts. Below I have enclosed another three of these fulfilled undertakings.

Parisian Pursuits: Accomplished

1) Buy something from Shakespeare & Co. that dates back no later than 1950

The original Shakespeare and Company independent bookstore originated in 1919 in Paris. This establishment was a popular hangout location for many writers in the 20’s including Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce. Currently, Shakespeare and Company is both a bookstore and reading library for literature that dates back to the early 1800’s.

Below is an original piece from a collection of the 1880’s Ward Lock’s Penny Shakespeare publications that I purchased. It is a slim brochure containing a different part of a play (mine is for King Richard II). Every member of society from all social classes attended Shakespeare’s plays, including the peasants/groundlings whose admission fee was a penny. This program was once owned by a peasant attendee of the original production.

People’s Penny Shakespeare: Published in 1880

2) Go to mass every Sunday at Notre Dame

10 minutes: the time that it took me to travel two metro stops from my studio apartment to make it to mass at Notre Dame on time. It really was an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience and I plan on attending every Sunday. Next week I intend on attending the Gregorian mass in particular. If you don’t know anything about Gregorian masses or chants,  Youtube-it (hello harmony).

3) Purchase macarons from the infamous Laduree on the Champs d’Elysees

Macarons are famous French dessert treats that come in all colors and flavors. If there is any place in Paris to purchase the best macarons from, Laduree is your stop! With many locations scattered all over Paris, the Champs d’Elysees location is quite beautiful and very ornate. Each macaron was worth the entirety of its 1.75 euro pricetag!

Keep updated about my adventures on my blog!

I hope you are having a great night as I am, residing in my studio apartment on this rainy evening with some white wine accompaniment.

Bisous,

La fausse parisenne

Jean Paul Gaultier: Haute Couture Meets Street-Style

Salut!

I recently read an opinion piece from the Business of Fashion (one of my favourite resources) that made me question the importance of haute couture in the world of fashion (you can check out the article here: http://www.businessoffashion.com/2013/01/colins-column-is-haute-couture-poised-for-reinvention-or-irrelevance-3.html)

For those who are unfamiliar with the term “haute couture”, I’ll provide you with a brief explanation: a direct French translation for the term is “high sewing” or “high fashion”. With a target consumer base of the rich and famous, haute couture is usually made to order for a specific customer with a high attention to detailing and construction (usually hand-stitched, can take 2000+ hours) to produce the highest quality product. In France, only firms that meet requirements of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture are qualified to associate the term with their garments.

As haute couture is very extravagant, usually impractical, and rarely worn in everyday life (excluding Anna Della Russo), has haute couture lost its relevance?

Fast-forwarding to today, my international marketing professor described the common tendency for the French to make situations more complicated than necessary. She explained that “being simple is very un-French” as for centuries the French have prided themselves on dominating complex-thinking, most notably with their impact on philosophy. Therefore, taking the “simple approach” in fact illustrates the lack of thought taken into consideration. Bringing this back to fashion, the exquisite and overwhelming detail that defines haute couture represents this complex thinking, that in our ever-changing world has become so easily forgotten.

As you can see in the pictures, haute couture is quite relevant as supported by the mobs of people and paps (aka: paparazzi) who attended Jean Paul Gaultier’s haute couture spring 2013 show. After my memorable experience stalking the Chanel show, I knew that I had to stalk the Jean Paul Gaultier show. Known as “l’enfant terrible” Gaultier has been pushing the envelope and testing the boundaries of sexuality with his gender-bending garments, therein challenging past standards of fashion.

After scrounging through the 227 pictures I took at 325 rue Saint Martin, below are my top 40 favourite street-style shots at the show!

 

Anggun: musician

Miroslava Duma: ex-editor of Harper’s Bazaar Russia, now founder of Buro 24/7

Carine Roitfeld: ex-editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris, currently the editor-in-chief of CR Fashion Book

Sophie & Nick Simmons, kids of Gene Simmons from KISS

Spotted: Jeanne Beker!

Model shot

Yasmin Warsame (top model) leaving the show

Haute couture is relevant, not primarily for its need to satisfy its niche consumer base, but most importantly to inspire the evolution of fashion as an artistic medium. We need to dream and allow our imagination to widen to promote change; haute couture allows this to happen.

Hope you are all having a wonderful week and you will be hearing from me soon!

A bientôt!

Bisous,

La fausse parisienne

Chanel: Street-Style Wildlife

Bon soir!

Paris Fashion Week is an exciting time, where all the fashion elite unite in the fashion capital of the world to witness the offerings from designers for the latest season. With the Haute Couture shows taking place from January 21 through January 24, I knew there was one show that my “fashion-week-stalking-rampages” would be incomplete without conquering: the Chanel show. As one of the coveted luxury brands in the world, it is in Chanel tradition to house the haute couture show at Le Grand Palais so I knew that’s where my second stalking-rampage would take me!

On January 22, I slept in and missed Chanel’s 10:00 am show. Knowing the second show would commence at noon, I scurried to le Grand Palais for 11:30 am to catch the fashion elite’s glamorous arrivals. After two hours of waiting in negative-degree weather with frost-bitten feet, I managed to capture on camera the fashion elite in their natural habitat.

After rummaging through the 250+ photos I snapped, I present to you my top 40 street-style shots of the event taken by yours truly. Many different species of fashion elite were spotted in their natural environment so I will acquaint you to the wild world of fashion week.

Chanel Haute Couture Spring 2013: Street-Style Wildlife

The natural habitat: the runway show at le Grand Palais

Species A: The insiders. Those that are lucky/influential/wealthy enough to receive a coveted enveloped black-and-white invitation, this crowd includes fashion editors, journalists, bloggers, celebrities, and obnoxiously-wealthy consumers.

  

Species B: The outsiders. This species encompasses a wide range of diversity including paparazzi, fashion-followers (me), and those that just simply want to be blogged/photographed. These outsiders are as just as enjoyable to watch as the insiders; the fact that they are willing to wait outside for over 2 hours in unfavourable weather is proof enough of these species’ dedication to fashion (and it shows).

Now to witness the wildlife post-runway show as they exited le Grand Palais:

Carine Roitfeld: ex-editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris, currently the editor-in-chief of CR Fashion Book

The most glamorous family I have ever seen

Imran Amed: spotted on the left, founder and editor of The Business of Fashion (one of my favourite resources about all that is fashion – and he is Canadian)

One of my favourite shots: the most eclectic group of individuals all captured in one shot, united in the name of fashion

Jeanne Beker: Host of FashionTelevisionChannel, Contributing Editor to The Toronto Star, Journalist, Author, Creative Director of EDIT, and my inspiration (fellow Canadian)

Baptiste Giabiconi: French model, musician, and the most perfectly-faced man I have ever seen

Glamorous troupe of women known as “the Russian mafia” led by Miroslava Duma (far right), ex-editor of Harper’s Bazaar Russia, now founder of Buro 24/7

It is a surreal experience to be engaged in this luxurious world of wildlife personally, rather than simply watching it through a blog post or video podcast as I once did. I have always watched clips of past Chanel shows on a screen; now it was my turn to be the individual behind the lens.

Not to be corny, but Coco Chanel was quoted once saying:

“Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman.”

Attending (stalking) the Chanel show and watching the wildlife behave in their natural setting proved just how accurate this quote was indeed.

Be sure to check for next week’s blog post when I publish my top 40 street-style shots attending (stalking) the Jean Paul Gaultier show!

Bisous,

La fausse parisienne

Menswear: The Stalking Learning Curve

Salut!

My love affair with fashion began at the age of twelve when I started watching Fashion Television hosted by Jeanne Beker (a proud Canadian). With each week, she would educate me and fellow loyal fashion-followers globally about the ever-changing and ever-exciting world of fashion. With fashion being played on a global landscape, Fashion Television was my source of being connected to this fantasy world all the way from Canada.

I grew up watching Jeanne Beker waltz into fashion shows all over the world from Milan and London, and of course to the fashion capital of the world: Paris. Fashion was a driving force in my decision to live and study in Paris, and when I discovered Paris Fashion Week would take place during my stay, I knew I had to capitalize on this opportunity.

Paris Fashion Week Menswear Fall 2013 was scheduled to take place between January 16 until January 20; during these days, I penciled in some fashion-stalking to catch a glimpse of this world for myself. Would I be able to spot famous fashion journalists like Hilary Alexander, editors like the eccentric Anna Della Russo, or notorious bloggers like Tommy Ton?

Starting at l’arc de triomphe, beginning to stalk the menswear shows on the streets of the Champs-Elysees, after paying a visit to the Louis Vuitton flagship store and Laduree for their infamous macarons.

It took me a few days to find the official list of locations for the scheduled shows and I finally schemed on starting to stalk the menswear shows on Day 3 of Fashion Week. I failed miserably after walking in circles for 1.5 hours in the 1er arrondissement in -10°C weather, only to find refuge in stores (further stumbling into debt).

With the majority of A-list shows posted without addresses, I felt discouraged and didn’t think I would even make it to one menswear show. How wrong I was.

With (YSL) Saint Laurent being one of the most buzzed-about luxury houses with a new creative director, I knew stalking this show would be difficult especially with no location posted. While at my studio apartment, I stumbled upon a Twitter post by a popular blogger who revealed the show’s location. The show started at 8:00 pm. It was 8:21 pm. With no time to spare, I google-mapped the location, whipped on my coat, sprung out the door, hopped on the Metro, and within 34 minutes I arrived at the destination.

At Le Grand Palais, there hung the banners for the Saint Laurent show. What was once sight I was only able to witness through a television screen, I now could see through my own eyes. I may have arrived late – not spotting any fashion royalty – but now I feel prepared for Haute Couture Week starting today.

Last night, a girl’s 9-year dream came true.

Stay tuned for this week’s post when I stalk the Haute Couture shows including Chanel and Giorgio Armani Prive.

Bon soir!

Bisous,

La fausse parisienne

First(-but-possibly-not-lasting) Impressions

Salut,

Finally, it took 10 months for my dream to become a reality! While awaiting in anticipation for my dream to commence, I began doing some research and conjured a list of expectations that I had about Paris, whether it be sourced from the media, history, or my own irrational imagination. Below I have included five of the expectations I had about Paris before my arrival. Did I presume correctly?

Paris: Five Expectations and Outcomes

1) True: Paris is a dirty city.

• I partly blame this on the garbage system in the city. Stores do not have designated garbage bins to dispose of waste, thus resulting in garbage-bag filled streets. Garbage disposals are increasingly easier to find in Canada than in Paris, only further promoting the litter-bug epidemic here. Add the ever common rain to the mix and you can imagine how gross it can be at times.

2) True: Parisian plumbing is unreliable.

• I was warned by all those who previously visited Paris that the plumbing in this city is erratic with a lack of hot water. I thought perhaps living in a newer 20^th century studio apartment would exempt me from being subject to this common Parisian standard. Let’s just say, I learned how wrong I was after taking my first shower.

3) False: Parisians are rude individuals.

• Being a Canadian-girl who believes in manners and compulsively overuses the word “sorry” I anticipated the worst from a city stereotyped has having snobby and insincere habitants. I must say, my experiences thus far have been all positive, with random strangers offering assistance with directions and advice without so much as a demand. Parisians are not rude, but rather are confident. This stereotype can be traced back to their history. After the French Revolution, the people decided that they didn’t want to serve royalty or anyone else for that matter. Thus, they are rude to customers to show that they are not above them. Understanding that this behavior has historical roots allowed me to appreciate this not-so-evident culture shock.

4) True: Peanut butter cannot be found anywhere.

• I was warned beforehand that peanut butter is a rare commodity and is a struggle to find in Paris. Of course, peanut butter was one of the few items I managed to forget amongst my 100+ pounds of luggage. I visited multiple grocery stores including Carrefour (France’s version of Wal-Mart) and have yet to find it. I have never craved peanut butter so much! Note to self: appreciate peanut butter in Canada.

5) False: The women of Paris dress better than the men.

• I admit, this is a rather bold statement to make – especially in the fashion capital of the world – but I must be honest. Perhaps this observation is influenced by Menswear Fashion Week which is currently taking place. The old men have impressed me the most with their long camel wool coats, their extensive use of hats (in love with this), and bold-colored scarves. I am definitely learning what it means to “dress Parisian” through the old men I witness in the streets, reading Le Figaro on the Metro, and in the cafes. I do recognize I just arrived here and I hope that by the end of my time here I can take back this statement.

Stay tuned next week for my following post!

A bientot!

Bisous (kisses),

La fausse parisienne