Harley Viera Newton
[Larry Busacca/Getty Images]
Day five was a social day. Instead of hopping from show to show, I took the time to stop and smell the roses. I started with a lunch en famille at Le Bristol, where I had the hamburger. So sue me, sometimes a girl can have too much cheese and croissant. Great people watching, and fantastic food. I spied the NYT’s Cathy Horyn reigning from a table nearby, Gene Krell, international Fashion Director for Vogue Hommes and GQ Japan, and of course, Jonathan and Ronnie Newhouse.
After some window shopping nearby, I headed back to Montmartre and the fantastic apartment I was lucky enough to snag, and changed for dinner. Montmartre is the incredibly inspiring home of many a famous (and not so famous!) artist—think Dali, Van Gogh, Monet, Mondrian. Just some of the artists that called Montmartre and nearby home. It is now an interesting combination of tourist and chic upscale neighborhood. Rather like our SoHo in NYC.
Dinner was an intimate (and delicious!) Italian meal at charming La Corte Restaurant on Rue Saint-Honoré. Everywhere you looked there were beautiful people, and the food, oh, the food! The pasta made my heart sing. Besides my better half, Jesse, my charming companions were Massimo Redaelli, President of Prima Management and former Senior VP of IMG Fashion Europe, philanthropist, heiress, and entrepreneur Mercedes Zobel, and Giorgio Guidotti, President of Worldwide Communications at MaxMara.
Our group went on to Le Matignon Restaurant and Playground—the music was insanely danceable and the staff was more interestingly dressed than the New York Fashion Week peacocks that strut around hoping to be in someone’s street style blog. There were crazy hats, colorful suits for the men, and sexy and sophisticated dresses on the ladies, and that was just the wait staff. The clientele were sexy, dripping in diamonds and couture, and the champagne was flowing like water. The Maître ‘D broke out sparklers and Vogued when Madonna’s song played. True story. Our group included Susan Shin, Annette Weber from InStyle Germany, and Isha and Asim Abdullah. Asim is the owner of Ungaro—which will be one of the more interesting shows this season as the world waits to see what direction the label takes as they struggle to rebrand.
I opted to skip out on the rest of the evening, which included stops at Regine’s and Titty Twister. No really, it’s the name of a club. I can’t make this stuff up. I would have loved to, but an early show the next day called.
Good Guy Marc Jacobs [Dave Benett/Getty Images]
Jour Six
Sunday, a day of rest.... Well, not so much, but this is Paris, and though most of the stores are closed for the day, life goes on. This was the first sunny day in weeks, and tourists and Parisians alike took full advantage even if the weather was still chilly. I had a wonderful conversation with my driver, who when he found out I was here to work Paris Fashion Week, let me in on a little secret. He lowered his voice dramatically, and said, “you know Marc Jacobs? I’ve driven him around. I will give you a secret about him.” Well, being a huge fan, I was all ears. He continued: “He is just the nicest guy, you wouldn’t believe it.” It made my morning—always nice to hear some good gossip.
First stop of the day, the MaxMara Atelier presentation. MaxMara Atelier is iconic, owning a MaxMara coat is a rite of passage for many women. According to MaxMara President of Worldwide Communications, Giorgio Guidotti, legend has it that Isabella Rossellini was given her first MaxMara coat by her mother, Ingrid Bergman as a coming-of-age ritual. MaxMara do not allow the coats to go on sale, since each piece is meant to be an investment piece, a key wardrobe staple for years. The Autumn 2013-2014 collection is made up of twelve luxurious coats varying in style from parka to dinner jacket, each piece is classically tailored, with modern fit and styling. The mix of materials including camel, hand woven double cashmere, and fur—mink, astrakhan, and beaver, are often featured together, adding a touch of modernity to a classic silhouette.
Up next, Céline. It felt like Céline was the place to be—Kanye West made a surprise appearance, and the whole room was buzzing with everyone wondering what designer Phoebe Philo would do to follow up last seasons fur booties and sandals. This season’s offerings were definitely more wearable, seemingly with the working woman in mind. Pastel coats with sloping shoulders and rounded lapels looked comfortable and warm while maintaining a stylish line, and more plaid (making this an official runway trend this fashion week!) as well as flirty circle skirts, easy sweaters, and of course dresses cut in Philo’s signature minimal chic. It wouldn’t be Céline without a few surprises, including a mink dress with a tulip skirt, and dresses and coats with slits for arms and sleeves tied up in the front, which felt a bit gimmicky. Overall, the romantic turn that Philo took was a lovely departure, and the collection overall was gorgeous.
How do you follow up Céline? With Maxime Simoëns’ ready-to-wear debut. The designer, whose sale of a small stake in his company
Maxime Simoëns Fall 2013 Show [Antonio de Moraes Barros Filho/Wire Image]
to LVMH was announced last month, has turned his hand to ready-to-wear after only a few seasons of doing couture. Simoëns’ debut RTW collection was inspired by Swan Lake, sometimes executed quite literally in plumage-like textured fur pieces and tutu-like short flared skirts. Though Simoëns played it safe in the silhouettes of his pieces, his innovation came through in the materials and prints he used. His use of a black and white check, of which he isolated a single hounds tooth cutout which he repeated in several pieces was very strong, as was his use of textured fur, “tweed” embroidery made of tiny metallic tubes was sprinkled over a few of the pieces, and a beautifully cool black and blue satin provided a contrast to the warmer textured pieces. An impressive debut, with each piece being beautifully executed.
As a follow up to all of this fashion, a girl’s got to eat... and dance.
The evening started with a family style dinner at Ginger, on rue de la Trémoille, which included Susan Shin, Asim & Isha Abdullah, and designer Elise Overland. People were coming and going, and it was a lovely Parisian free for all.
After dinner, I grabbed my cohort of the evening, Susan, and dashed to the Diesel & Edun party for Studio Africa Live. Attendees included Bono, Coco Rocha, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, and Solange Knowles. There were live performances, DJs, the whole bit but it was very crowded so we moved on to Café Flore where I ran into Harley Viera Newton, Waris Ahluwalia and the divine Tilda Swinton. After a few quick bisous, we ran next door to Montanas for a bit of dancing. There was some kind of party going on, and lots of people were being turned away at the door. We got a few angry looks as we were quickly ushered through the velvet ropes. People here take their partying very seriously.
After all of that dancing, we ended up right back at Hotel Coste, where we sipped cocktails and enjoyed the mellow vibe. Though our group continued on to Le Baron, 5 parties was enough for me and I hopped into my Über car and was whisked home.