So my buddy Avon wanted to see where all the ‘people of color’ in Paris hung out, so I took him to Chatelet Les Halles, a shopping center in the center of the city. Within minutes I saw these fashionable men, who embraced everything from slick vests and pointed shoes to puffy red jackets and baggy jeans:
Style differences aside, it seemed white shoes and cool dark sunglasses were wardrobe musts!
What do you think of their style?
Bisous!
PS I took my first French Real Style at Chatelet when I came for vacation! Reminisce here.
So while Claire is hopping around to shows at Paris fashion week, I decided to give you bombshells the lowdown on the hottest runway shoes for Fall.
Our Spring ’09 Paris Fashion Week shoe roundup was filled with footwear that made you lust for warmer weather and a bigger budget. Fall ’09′s shoes, er…well, at least designers can’t be accused of not taking current times into consideration. Sure, there are some gems, but for the most part designers kept it stark and somber below the knee. Here we go… Giambattista Valli: fab croco-patterned black platform boots…but a shoe collection heavy on satin for the fall?
Givenchy: Probably my favorite of the bunch (although the black boots are somewhat similar to Loboutin’s Forever Tina boot from Fall ’09). The studded sandals are sick!
Lanvin: Practical and alive with wearability, certainly, but I can’t muster too much excitement beyond that.
Nina Ricci: I don’t see these anywhere beyond the pages of a magazine editorial, a display case at the FIT Museum, or a Sasha Fierce video. They’re fun to look at but suffer from the other extreme you find in a recession: denial!
Stella McCartney: Again, here the black boots seem the strongest to me (this time with an intricate perforated pattern in the leather). Otherwise…
Viktor & Rolf: I’m feeling the sequin boots on the bottom left–the signature, just-right V&R touch of unconventionality. I’d have loved to see the white boots on the top left in a brown leather, though.
Yves Saint Laurent : The black suede and washed out teal pumps are the business, and I love how the heel incorporates elements of a wedge, a stiletto, and a platform all in one. Loves!
Last night my buddy Avon and I followed the signs around Paris’ Bercy stadium for the Alexander McQueen show:
I’m a huge fan of McQueen’s edgy dresses, skirts, and big shouldered jackets (think Beyonce en concert), and I was expecting to see a continuation of his practical pieces on the runway. Most designers thus far have presented collections that were largely wearable, as YSL paraded tops that anyone could rip off a model and wear to work the next day.
Oh, not so with McQueen:
I was shocked, awed, and thrown for a loop. Gasping, pointing, and uttterly thrilled. Have you ever seen anything like this?
With a middle finger raised to the recession, McQueen offered fantasy, theater, and couture like combinations for Fall 2009. With relics of his past in a scrap metal like heap in the middle of the runway, it seemed McQueen was presenting a New World/Post Apocalyptic order, which shunned practicality in favor of color, excess, and luxe:
In the show program, he admitted to referencing Christian Dior’s hounds tooth check pattern, which was obvious with the first few looks:
But as Christian Dior said ‘bullocks’ to budgets with his revolutionary New Look, it seemed McQueen was saying the same to our current fiscal crisis, using fabrics like organza, cock feathers, nappa leather, and snake jacquard, to “turn the bourgeois fashion system…on [its head].”
The models themselves looked alienesque with their kabuki makeup, slow gates, and high as the sky shoes:
Highlighting that McQueen is thoroughly out of this world. The final walk:
The McQueen show last night was a fantastical journey, unlike anything I’ve ever seen! Before the show I snapped these two lovelies outside the venue at Paris’ Bercy stadium:
Black on black is always chic. Add a bit of sparkle and patent for fun!
Kanye was very gracious (as usual)…and Ms. Amber was looking fierce in a black catsuit. Represent!
What did you think?
Pssst, a fashion birdie told me that the lovebirds are also here shooting a video for Kanye’s single Robocop. Perhaps why they haven’t been to every show on the schedule…
The room was buzzing last night at the Yves Saint Laurent show as editors and celebrities crammed into the Palais de Tokyo by the Eiffel Tower. Of course Kanye West and his entourage were in attendance, but other stars such as Catherine Deneuve, Claudia Schiffer, Rachel Zoe and Nina Garcia made cameos as well, upping the wattage for the affair:
The collection began with a succession of garments in recession friendly neutrals like black, white, and gray. Sticking to clean, simple lines, Stefano Pilati reintrepretated work ready basics like the black skirt, white top, leather jacket, shift dress, and pinstripe suit–to dramatic effect:
Fashioned for the monied woman who yearns to update her classics, the collection was unquestionably lovely and full of solidly constructed skirts, jackets, and shifts. I especially loved the white blouses with exaggerated elements like plunging v necks, large billowing sleeves, and overstated collars:
Couldn’t you see yourself wearing one with your go to pencil skirt?
Pilati also offered new derivations of the signature YSL Le Smoking, refashioning jackets as dresses, vests, and high slit gowns:
Honestly, I could have lived without the glitter gowns and leather jumpers:
But as a girl who loves a classic look, I could see these pieces on anyone from a young professional to a seasoned executive in a fashionable field.
An exclamation point to the end of a solid sophisticated show! The final walk:
Apologies for the headshots in the video. I was standing! But I didn’t feel so bad, as I spied Rachel Zoe’s assistant Brad standing and snapping pix just like me! Standing is the new sitting (I kid).
What do you think of the collection?
I snapped this young man on my way out of the Jean Paul Gaultier show:
He seemed to be embracing the Malcolm X + Pee Wee Herman look we wrote about here, down to the high water pants. He made the look his own, however, with a velvet blazer with silver piping, oxford shoes with silver accents, and silver and white socks (high waters be darned!).
So while New York shows are high energy celebrity affairs, Paris shows are low key events primarily attended by American and international editors, buyers, and fashion enthusiasts.
So imagine my surprise when I spied Kanye West and Amber Rose creep into the Hussein Chalayan show yesterday. Actually, I was more juiced to see Amber:
After we snapped our pic, I remarked on her cute Alexander Wang dress (whose design she declined to confirm) and tried to get her on the record/video about anything: How has her life and style changed since Kanye? Does she read any of the gossip blogs? Who is Amber Rose?
Want to know what she answered?
“I don’t give interviews.”
I was so disappointed!
It seems they just got here, but I hope she’ll eventually let her guard down. More to come!
Contact Claire for interviews, appearances, collaborations and inquiries.
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