Style.com's Paris Review

Style.com gives an opinion of fashion week through the eyes of fashion's most powerful influences.

Galliano's Show Magic

Check out a behind the scenes look of Galliano's fashion spectacle in Paris last week. The clip was posted on YouTube by The Daily Telegraph.

Flashback to Fashion Week

Oh! I am so tired. Paris Fashion Week is exhausting – even for a lil nobody like me who only attended the smaller shows! However, the beauty, the excitement, the fast, international pace is so alluring and enticing that it inspires you to stay up at all hours to take it all in.

Everyone stays up til the wee hours of the morning and then wakes up early to enter the 9:30 a.m. shows. My own fashion week experience started off with Fatima Lopes, and ended with Anne Valerie Hash. Between the no name shows I attended, I spotted Alber Ebaz, Hamish Bowles and Irina Lazereau at Le Baron. I also hid from a scary editor I worked for in the Tuileries (no, she would not remember me, but I dunno… she might be pissed about the time I cluelessly walked into her Mariah Carey shoot!); went to the Thomas Wylde showroom with buyer Stacey Kosene, and watched Vivica A. Fox walk past me with Jay Alexander into the Christian Lacroix show.

It is virtually impossible to get into the big-name shows like Lacroix, Balenciaga, Chanel, Chloe, and even Stella McCartney without securing tickets beforehand. Believe me, I tried. My girlfriend made it sound so easy, saying all she had to do to get into Lacroix was ask people if they had extra tickets.. but that's not the case! Unless you have the guts to go up to some fabulous editor to ask for her extra tickets, you probably wont get in. I think my friend just got extremely lucky!

Even though I arrived an hour before the shows and sweet-talked with the bouncers (which normally always works in Paris), I still was unable to get into Lacroix or McCartney. However, there are still perks to hanging around the tents. You watch the stars come in, like Kanye with his sweet fiancé Alexis Phiffer at Stella McCartney, and, if you dress fashionable enough, you are photographed by the paparazzi.

I found it extremely amusing that the Japanese press loved my camel coat I had custom made in China and I slightly embarrassing when I had to explain that no… my shoes are not Loubotins…. Just err…. BCBG pumps! Haha whatever. The paparazzi thing was quite new to my girlfriend and I, but it was fun. And funny. I really got a kick when one journalist asked my friend… wait your wearing Diane Von…. Who? Poor thing had never heard of great Diane Von Furstenburg wrap dress and was quite lost amidst all the tents and glamorous women. But yet, so were half of the people outside the tents... including me.

The "Next Step" for Fatima Lopes may be stepping down

The Portugese designer Fatima Lopes may have called her winter 08/09 collection the Next Step because she was hoping to enter the big ring of well-known designer. Lopes showed her collection on February 23, the first official day of Paris' Fashion Week. Any collection shown on the first day will most likely be seen by fashion-crazed students (like me), international journalists that don't speak French (or English) and a few B-list Parisians starlets.
Lopes describes her collection as a very structured, elegant futuristic style with a nod to the 40's. I thought it was like the visual equivalent of a teacher scratching her nails down the chalkboard. The stage lights faded to black then shot neon pink headlights on the first model to walk on the runway. Poor models. Only half of them remembered to pose long enough on the runway, and as a result were yelled by the photographers trying to capture the perfect pose for their bosses. Three dresses fell off the models shoulders, and as a result flashed the audience (only intentional nudity is accepted. Otherwise it means the clothes are a poor fit!) . To my horror only two looks were applauded by one dapper young man who was probably trying to be nice. I truly felt bad for Lopes.
However, there were a few bright moments in the show. The high waisted skirts were right on target, and they had a few looks that reminded me very much of Miuccia Prada's darling lace numbers in Milan. The picture above is one of Lopes' safer looks. It isn't bad, but it shows nothing new. I looked for one of Lopes' more typical looks online, but her show didn't even make style.com. There were only a few photos found on Yahoo of her show.
Even though this show was somewhat helter-skelter, you have to admire anyone who has enough backing and support to be one of the few designers selected to be a part of Paris Fashion Week. However, I pray she veers away from the futuristic and focuses more on her so-called tribute to the 40s. The helmut-like headbands were a little too much.

Let the Games..er shows... begin!

Paris Fashion Week is finally here! Right now I am heading to the Westin Hotel off of Rue de Rivoli to "prends un cafe" and watch journalists and fashionistas trickle in to Fatima Lopes' show. Maybe I'll get a seat, who knows. But I'm not really worries since this designer isn't well known. ModeaParis is the official Paris Fashion Week site and can give you details about the week. Curious what the actual schedule is? Or plan on being in Paris to catch a show? Check this out!

The History of Fashion Week

1660
Louis XIV promotes haute couture with the Fashion Dolls. These dolls were life-size mannequins wearing the current fashions.
The royal court and its seamstresses would analyze and take apart the garments to make their own version of the gowns.




1700s
Marie Antoinette appoints couturier Rose Bertin the Minister for Fashion. Bertin is famous for creating Marie Antoinette’s elaborate court dresses.

1804
Francoise-Marie Leroy is made the new Minister for Fashion when Napoleon crowns himself Emperor.

1858
Charles Worth is the first to sew labels on his clothes and to show customers the outfits on live models. This Englishman is considered the father of haute couture.

1868
Worth and his sons create an association of couture houses called The Chambre Syndicale De La Confection Et De La Couture Pour Dames Et Fillettes. The house’s purpose is to prevent couturiers’ designs from being copied.




1903
Ehrich Brothers specialty store holds the first American fashion show in New York City to attract middle-class female customers.

1910
Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, the mother of chic, opens her first shop in Paris. Chanel was first known for using jersey materials, which were originally used for men's underwear, to make skirts and dresses for women.








1910
Department stores like Wanamaker’s promote their own fashion shows.



1914
Edna Woodman Chase, a Vogue editor, hosts a charity called the Fashion Fete to benefit the war-relief effort. Some consider this one of the first “real” fashion shows.



1920s
Fashion shows go mainstream. Flapper girls strutted down the runway in both boutiques and department stores. Shows took place during tea time or at lunch and were considered more theatrical than today’s shows. Shows had ethnic and costume themes. A few even had narrative commentary.


1943
Eleanor Lambert creates “Press Week” in New York since America was in the middle of World War II. Fashion editors were not able to fly over the Atlantic to attend the Paris shows, so Lambert got the idea to boost the American economy and fashion market with her version of fashion week. As a result, Vogue and Elle started to wean off the French fashion obsession and feature more American designers.

1950
Fairchild publishes How to Give a Fashion Show. Around the country, PR women purchase the book to learn how to give the shows their bosses are increasingly asking for.

1960s
American designers start showing their collections in art galleries, Soho lofts, and chic hotels.

1961
London Fashion Week is created.



1990s
The “Big Six” Supermodels – Christy, Linda, Claudia, Naomi, Cindy and Kate – dominate the runway. These women brought attitude to the runway and used their personalities, along with their great looks, to book shows. Linda Evangelista’s infamous comment “I don’t get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day” sums up their earning power.


1990
At the Michael Kors Autumn/Winter show, chunks of ceiling plaster fall on models and editors alike due to the booming bass. This is when Fern Mallis, the Council of Fashion Designers of America executive director, gets the idea to organize all the shows in one centralized location.




1994
CFDA puts on the first Olympus Fashion Week in Bryant Park.



1995
Sao Paulo Fashion Week is created. Supermodel Gisele Bundchen regularly struts the runway to help boost her home country’s status as a fashion show player.

2001
Olympus Fashion Week is bought by marketing company IMG, who changes the name to Olympus/Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

2005
Japan Fashion Week in Tokyo is created. The show is supported by the Ministry of Economy, the Fashion Trade and Industry. Designers, material and apparel manufacturers join together to sell Japanese fashion to the globe. However, some critics complain that the show is too westernized with its models and designs. Some locals wish the show would show true eastern beauty and fashion.

2006
In September the Spanish Association of Fashion Designers decide to ban models that have a BMI lower than 18 from walking the catwalk.

Campaign to Feed the Pringle Models!

EW. Not only did Pringle of Scotland's show in Milan today fail miserably compared to last year's Autumn/Winter collection, but their models were seriously lacking in BMIs! If you stare at this photo long enough... her head really does seem like it's pasted on top of the outfit.... you can barely see her fingers creeping out the sleeves! uck. I guess this is what can be expected from a city that was offended when Spain declared they wouldn't accept models with BMI's lower than 18! Looks like Milan should follow suit instead of throwing stick figures on the runway!