FASHION WEEK IN PARIS - There's always a Fashion Week somewhere

Although I have been living in Paris for some time now, I have never become involved in FASHION WEEK.  To me it seemed to come around rather often and then I also thought that it was only for the invited.  The fact that I am not a buyer from abroad, or a registered fashion critic, a person touting a press card or even a celebrity, or a frequent buyer of haute courture I never thought I would ever get near any action.  However, yesterday, I took it into my head to simply go to the Palais de Tokyo with my small camera and see what I could see.

Cute Girls on Roller Skates

When I arrived there was nobody to be seen except two cutely dressed girls, on roller skates and very long eyelashes, offering aerosol cans of dry shampoo.  Their hair was  glossy and shiny and they were very “smily”.  Hmm “merci”, may I take your picture ?  The action seemed to have started.

As there was nobody around I decided to climb the steps of the temple of fashion to see what there was on offer.

Still nobody seemed to have turned up and it was now 30 minutes before showtime in the large space leading towards yet more steps, which would lead me to the inner sanctum of this particular fashion designer's Paris collection.  There were three areas for people to queue in order to enter the performance space.

I stood in the space labelled STANDING, the other spaces being BUYERS and PRESS.  The designer, whose name I didn’t know, nor could I pronounce it, was also displayed in quite a haphazard way.  

Hmm - Jean-Paul Gautier influence !!

Very quickly  crowds started arriving, they were mostly young men and women wearing very creative garb of their own arrangement.  They struck me as students and fashionistas and were often from places outside of France.  They filed into the spaces reserved for Press and Buyers and some even joined into my “Standing” queue.  We were waiting for ages.  The time of the show to start came and went, so I decided to photograph these colourful and creative dressers as blog material.  Such fun and they were only too pleased to be photographed,  unlike other situations where one has to be discreet.

Scary - but oh so sweet !

Eventually there was an almighty rush to be allowed into the “salle d’exhibition”.  We were allowed in twelve at a time.  Whew !  I made it and was seated next to a young man with an American accent. We offered to take pictures of each other and send them on.  The “nice young man” said he was studying music for fashion shows and wanted to compose for this purpose.  I have noticed that music for fashion shows stretches and changes already established music and the style they were playing that afternoon was that of Philip Glass.  “Nice young man” had never heard of Philip Glass, I fell “sploosh" into the generation gap.

Fashion Students

Getting in on the Act

 On with the show.  The garments shown were beautiful and unusual.  There was intricate embroidery on lovely fabrics.  They were timeless pieces that will never date and were totally wearable albeit to some elegant occasion.  All were under €1,000.  The models were stick thin and very tall especially in their high heeled platformed shoes.  The show was over in a flash of 30 minutes.   

By this time I had read the information about the designer.  See below, impressive.

The Collection Spring/Summer 2015 is called THE FERRYMAN'S TALE

          Fabrics from special looms in India and as mentioned
 over in a FLASH

Someone from The Harry Potter Academy of Fashion 

I was so pleasantly surprised to have had such easy access to a fashion show during Paris Fashion Week and was very happy to see beautiful quality fabrics and creative work at close range. A lovely soft and romantic theme, quite different to that depicted in the film “The Devil Wears Prada” and other behind the scenes stories that  would put you off working in the fashion world.  I wish him continued great success.

   The name of the designer is RAHUL MISHRA from INDIA.  In February 2014, Rahul Mishra won the 2014 Woolmark Prize at the Milan Fashion Week. The award carries an AUS $100,000 prize (over Rs. 5.4 million) and was previously won by designers  Karl Lagerfeld and Giorgio Armani.   Mishra was the only Indian to have won the award.

  RAHUL MISHRA