Paris Fashion Week Oct '08

It’s Paris; I have a spring in my step and I’m ready for action. Well, sort of. Had a date with a hot actor on Sunday evening and the conversation was so great, I got carried away with the old vin rouge. Feel rather weary when I wake up.  Thankfully I packed the day before in a very uncharacteristically organised fashion. It’s the dog you see, he gets traumatised at the sight of an open suitcase.

Due to the fire in the channel tunnel, the Eurostar is running on a temporary timetable and it’s chaos.  An Editor who works on a rival title shouts at me as I almost board the train to Brussels. It would have been such a faux pas to miss the first big show of the week as it’s Dior et J’adore Dior!

It’s sunny in Paris, the streets are chic and the traffic serene compared to the chaos that was Milan. Dior is at 2.30 and we just about make it on time. The vibe is Alaia meets an early George Michael video (body-con at its best). The Supers wore swingy sexy little dresses in sorbet colours with little embellished bodices.  Jessica Stam, Jourdan et al teetered along the catwalk in the highest heels Dior had made for seasons. The hair was very Naomi meets Linda in an early Gianni Versace show, all scraped back in an Egyptian topknot. I wouldn’t have been surprised if Grace Jones made an appearance on the runway such was the mood of the show. 

Speaking of being moved, I am ashamed to say I audibly yelped when I opened up the gift that was on my seat at the show. So uncool! Still, inside the little Dior bag was a tiny Dior box containing a Dior powder compact encrusted with crystals, a black nail polish, a silver one (which I’m wearing on my paws now), and a mascara that promises lashes worthy of the catwalk.

The next day at Martin Margiela the models sported long hairy coats. Wonder if I’ll get away with working that look? Maybe I’ll go for the ginger one for added drama. Might get a few looks down the local. Speaking of drama, there’s a dinner to celebrate 40 years of Sonia Rykiel so am wearing my new Stella dress, it’s navy blue and rather woo-hoo.

 

C’est fantasique!  The dinner is in the middle of a park on the outskirts of Paris.  Team Sonia have erected a marquee in the middle of the forest and set up dinner tables around a long, mirrored catwalk.  Team ELLE have one of the best tables in the house, I am sat next to Jean Paul Gaultier and Ellen Von Unwerth and I spy Emma Watson from Harry Potter across the catwalk. 

The Supers are unrecognisable with their homage to Sonia red hair, which sits on their shoulders like a huge red triangle! As if I’ve not had enough fun (this is THE only show in Paris where the models laugh and skip down the catwalk), the finale is one of the best I have ever seen in my show going life. Twenty of the world’s biggest designers from Karl Lagerfeld to Gaultier to Rodarte pay tribute to Sonia by creating an outfit in her honour.  My favourite was Gaultier, which was a black knitted dress that was still being knitted with oversized knitting needles by the model as she dragged the ball of wool alongside her on a roller-skate.  Bravo! 

Come Saturday, nerves are tense at the Chloe show as it’s designer Hannah McGibbon’s first collection for the house.  It’s a hot ticket by the look of the standing line and even those of us with seated tickets found the bench a bit of a squeeze.  That night Hannah and Co had a friends and family to a do at Castel, a fun and naughty little private club that if your name’s not down, get outta town, it’s THE place to be seen.  Time to get out that zip-me-in Dolce lace number!

 

The next day, after getting in at 4am, is a little difficult, but it was the first ‘big’ night I had had all month, I promise.  It’s Sunday and at the Louis Vuitton show.  Que La Vie En Rose is blaring out of the speakers, the supers hve the most extravagant hair I’ve seen all week – kind of poodle parlour meets Sade. Amazing.  They worked bright red lipstick and teeny tiny mini dresses with lace cut outs on the bottom.  Must get to the gym.  Later on at Lanvin it was like a scene out of Dynasty, the cocktail dresses made me want to drink a cocktail, so I did en route to the final show of the season, Miu Miu.  Not sure if it was the cocktail, the Miu Miu show or because it was finally time to go home but I felt quite overcome with a passion for fashion.  Talk about all dressed up and nowhere to go… x