“Ladies and Gentlemen, please, uncross your legs.”
This very characteristic expression is heard from a bunch of photographers almost every time, minutes before a fashion show begins.
I am here for Paris Fashion Week Spring-Summer 2017 (like the last few years) with my camera ready, looking forward to seeing the first model come out. But I don’t have the usual story. I have to be sincere. I haven’t always dreamed of being here, I didn’t know the creative directors of all major brands, I wasn’t madly in love with fashion.
Until my very first fashion show.
I was a trainee in a Parisian fashion press office (along with my Erasmus training) on a site for the Greeks in Paris, when they gave me an invitation to attend a fashion show. I still remember which show it was- Portuguese designer Fatima Lopez, who opened the Fashion Week for Fall-Winter ‘12-‘13.
I went there with a sense of true curiosity and a little bit of (I must admit) excitement to watch something that a few people had access to. If I close my eyes I can still “watch” this show. End of February of ‘12. The stage is red, and a girl in the middle is playing the contrabass live while the models start to come out one by one, with extraordinary hats on their heads and sexy clothes that accentuate the internal and external structure of the body. For fifteen minutes (this is the duration of a fashion show) I was completely shuttered, appalled. And that was only the beginning.
Many fashion shows followed, back stages and some interviews with fashion designers that (especially this last one) showed me the story behind the actual show. There is always a ‘story’ that has to be shared by the designers- these true artists of fashion.
Somehow Fashion Shows in Paris have now became my passion.
Every time now I get excited like it’s my first show, not only for the clothes but mostly for the atmosphere, the music, the story, the feeling that I have when I watch each of them live. THAT FEELING that is nothing compared to watching a show on television or online!
But besides the pleasure, the glamorous and lush affair, the reality is a little bit painful.
Fashion Week in Paris lasts nine days and the shows are held in different places all over the city. One show may be in Grand Palais and the other one at a garage on 4eme arrondissement. The blisters on both legs have the main role of this play and if you add to that a camera bag- I am lugging around from one place to another- you can easily understand why I finish every day exhausted and ready for hibernation!
This year, nearly a hundred official fashion shows were scheduled, plus 50 presentations by appointment. Unfortunately, the last few years, Greek journalists in Paris Fashion Week are counted on the fingers of one hand. Greek Media don’t have the money to pay their expenses, the few journalists that still attend the shows are paying everything themselves and designers are not really interested in the Greek market.
So, invitations intended to Greek journalists are extremely rare. Plus, articles are sold at low prices. Ok, we get it- crisis is not fashionable at all!
For nine days, from September 27 to October 5, the spotlight shined on the catwalks in the city of lights! The rhythms were hectic. There was always a show or a presentation to attend- to the point where I even forgot to eat.
Press officers of the fashion agencies were answering our e-mails, even at midnight. In Colette the store you couldn’t fit to pass, models were everywhere and, sometimes next to me in the metro (they are taller and thinner than you think!) fashion parties are held all over Paris but the best are at Silencio, the private club of David Lynch, the Baron or the Montana.
Designers have their own “artistic” stress, the real fashion shows take place outside the tents, eccentricity and uniqueness are at their best. It is a “must” to have a cocktail at the Avenue at avenue Montaigne and a drink at the bar of Hotel Costes. Saturday night I was there on the couch in front of the bar and Lakis Gavalas with his Greek company were right behind me. There you can find anyone! I saw the blogger Blonde Salad eating at the restaurant and Kim Kardashian passing by (before the stealing incident in her hotel). These days are filled with glasses of champagne and the bulls were sparkling. The whole city is a movable feast (not that of Hemingway) but a fashionable one!
To my surprise this year was not filled with extravaganza. Wings and feathers did not honour us with their presence on wannabees’ heads. After the terrorist attacks in Paris, for security reasons, for the first time the places of the shows were not revealed online but only on the invitations.
The shows were not so crowded and the fashion weirdos of this world- far fewer. I missed a little bit of the fun with those unforgettable personalities. Fortunately the Mister with the great collection of skirts was there. My favourite Paris Fashion Week mascot!
But, let’s get to the point! This year my Fashion Week began with an invitation to taste the Haute Cuisine / Desert that Japanese women served and also a traditional tea ceremony in a room covered of tatamis! Don’t you worry, we are still in Paris! By the shows and presentations, I personally attended Ι picked out the following →
♥The introduction of Issey Miyake’s show! If you have watched any of the previous show of Miyamae, the artistic director of the House, you know that this is not a simple fashion show, but a real performance. This time there was a backdrop of four synthesized kazoo players and a synth accompanist playing. Known for searching for new techniques, Miyamae presented Cut & Stick which enables various materials to be cut freely in any shape and stuck together using heat.
♥The placement of John Galliano’s show, that was in a school, the lycée Carnot! I enjoyed the song that accompanied the collection (he is always rock), the mix of distressed, stained looks, and baggy pieces mixed with crisp silhouettes and certainly the masks by Stephen Jones millinery studio.
♥The contrast between modernity and vintage in Veronique Branquinho’s collection.
♥My favourite designer Valentin Yudashkin combined satin, chiffon, bead and bugle bead embroideries with a sporty cut and a minimalist classical style.
♥The introductory video of Dorhout-Mees with the fairy tale scenery that transferred me into the woods!
♥The theme of Yde’s collection: “Love is Paradise”! Designer Ole Yde took his inspiration from the simple things that make him happy in life such as flowers, rainbows and waves.
♥The presentation of one of my favourite brands Vanessa Bruno. I loved the colorful bags and the… shoes!
♥But I have to wait until next summer! Time doesn’t fly when you want.
For all these fashionable moments that I experienced these last few days and in years gone by, each time when a fashion week in Paris ends, I wish it could be immediately restarted! But I could definitely do with some extra vitamins!
*Images by Polina Paraskevopoulou
