Celebrities at Dior - Paris Fashion Week

Today I went to the Dior show to photograph the celebrities! Hundreds of people came out to Dior hoping to either attend the show or get a glimpse of someone famous. After fighting my way to the front of the paparazzi, I was able to get some great shots!

I saw Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington fom Vogue.

I was very excited to see Leighton Meester from Gossip girl since this is one of my favorite shows!

Anna Dello Russo actually stopped to pose for a picture and starting laughing because she wanted to fix her hair before I took the photo.

Olivia Palermo from "The City," looked beautiful! She has the best style sense! After photographing her going into the show, I came across her walking down the street after the show! She was very kind and smiled as I called her name as she passed me by.

Bill Cunningham was there taking photos and was very pleased to pose for a picture for me. I don't think anyone else had recognized him! Bill is a well known fashion photographer for the New York Times!

Rachel Zoe was also at this show, but managed to sneak by me without getting a photo taken! Hopefully I will run into her at one of the other shows so I can get a shot!

Paris Fashion Week - Aganovich

The second show of the day that I attended at Paris Fashion Week was Aganovich. I have never seen this show before, and I was looking forward to it. Coming from London, this was Aganovich's 5th time showing at Paris Fashion Week. This collection had definite British influence. They used colors from Francis Bacon's paintings and the distorted mirrors around the stage referred to Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" to show a realization that the world is more inverted than thought. The show opened with a clown speaking with a man in a business suit about a painting (the clown being Francis Bacon). Before the show, there was also a fake food truck set up with a British man yelling "Bacon Sandwiches for sale!" This was also a reference to Francis Bacon.

Once the clothes came out on stage, there were many 60's inspired pieces. Many were layered organza pieces with varying degrees of opacity. The hats created by J.Smith Esq were fabulous pieces made from different materials from leather to organza.

Sitting front row at this show was great as I got to see the pieces up close! Everyone sitting at this show also received a gift of a handmade metal mannequin dressed in a piece from the show. I thought it was a nice little souvenir from the show!

Paris Fashion Week - Moon Young Hee SS2012

Paris Fashion Week started yesterday, and I was lucky enough to be invited to some shows again this season! The first show on my schedule was Moon Young Hee. I attended the show last season, and loved her use of fabrics. She is known for her meticulous layering of fabrics and subtle use of color. This season there were layered organza dresses, large frills and structural pieces. The frills were chunky, yet feminine and the structural pieces created unique silhouettes.

Suit jackets with bare shoulders created a different take on the "deconstructed" look. The clothes had an "inside out" look to them without looking too shabby.

In line with her subtle use of color, Moon Young Hee presented suits and dresses with strips of color organza sewn onto the pieces. She did increase the color as the show went on.

My favorite pieces in the show were beautiful, sparkling beaded tops. I was happy to see some glamor added into the show as evening wear.

Overall, a good range of interesting pieces that fringe the border of art as clothing.

Ibiza!

One good thing about living in Paris is that the rest of Europe is not very far away! Just a couple of hours on a plane and you can be in Spain! Last week my boyfriend and I took a holiday to Ibiza, Spain. We had 8 days on the sunny island to lay on the beach and eat lots of food in the buffet. Our hotel was wonderful, and the beach was beautiful. Since it was after the summer rush, there were not too many people so we had our pick of spots on the beach, and there was hardly ever anyone actually swimming in the water.

Ibiza is known for its club scene, however we are not "clubbing" type of people, so we didn't venture into any. We just enjoyed a relaxing time, and took walks along the beachfront at night. One evening we came across a pirate themed market that had huge BBQ set up with a craft market. Everyone was dressed like pirates, with some people even having live parrots on their shoulder! There were booths selling everything from spices to glass art where they were demonstrating torch glass blowing! Overall, it was a nice relaxing vacation with lots of beach time.

It feels a little like the calm before the storm since Paris Fashion Week starts on Tuesday and I will be running around the city to the shows! Watch out for updates straight from the catwalks!

Christian Lacroix

This morning I couldn't resist but go back to the Marche Puces Porte Vanves antique market. Last week I came across a lady who had bought up a lot of supplies from the Christian Lacroix atelier when it closed. I had to go back this week and have a better look through all her boxes of treasures! I must have spend about half an hour going though all of the beads, sequins, buttons, threads and metal pieces. I ended up purchasing a few pieces to incorporate into my jewelry designs! Each piece I got is stamped with the Christan Lacroix logo. I really liked how the butterfly and dragonfly each feature one beautiful hand painted ceramic wing. I can't wait to get designing!! If you are interested in a piece of jewelry incorporating any of these Christian Lacroix pieces, please contact me at glimpsecreations@yahoo.com or visit my website at www.glimpsebeads.com

Christian Lacroix is a french designer who was well known for his Haute Couture line which sadly closed in 2009. Personally I loved Christian Lacroix's Haute Couture designs. They were bold, fantasy creations, which is what Haute Couture is really all about! He was known for his theatrical style which came from his work while in the theater. Lacroix was also a great supporter of Paris atelier houses including Lesage who did many embroideries for the couture line. Below are some images from Christian Lacroix's collections from throughout his career.