Paris fashion week favourites

And so, just for once, there is a story rather than an editorial to share on this beautiful Monday morning.

And just like that Paris Fashion Week, the most exciting, sparkling and glamorous of them all, is over. I always feel a bit sad when it comes to an end as I can enjoy Parisian delights for as long as Paris is happy to generously share them with me.

And there is a list of my unforgettables…

Chloe’s casual elegance with scrumptious cosy coats, signature oh-so-Parisian drop waist silhouette, floaty skirts and delicate lace details.

Lanvin’s collection was probably one of my most favourite ones Alber Elbaz ever did. It was perfect in a way it was structured to fit the body where necessary without losing an ability to flirt with the audience with the help of glittering appliques and yards and yards of draping and crinoline-free deliciousness of full skirts.

Sonia Rykiel looked French and like something a woman could through on first thing in the morning and still look good all day long. It was very inspiring because many looks could have been created with less expensive pieces without loosing the magic.

I also loved Stella McCartney’s sporty, edgy and impeccably tailored clothes. She made me want to wear a suit, something that’s been Mission Impossible until now.

And Valentino, of course, for how can a woman not love those tulip shapes, leather that looks like French lace and feels like butter, not to mention all the pleating, embroidery and princess-worthy glamour?

In addition, there was, of course, Christian Dior that I’ve already dedicated an entire post to.

On the opposite end of the scale was, of course, the one and only Marc Jacobs whom people keep referring to as genius. I am yet to figure out why because the only things I keep thinking of include his carousel extravaganza that was obviously inspired by Chanel Fall/Winter 2008-2009 collection and then the latest Fall 2012 ready-to-wear collection that made me think of Karl’s Chanel Cruise 2007/2008 show again. I guess, using the plane would be too obvious, so Mr Jacobs went for the more budget and space friendly train option. Oh well… Not that I am very surprise. His 2008 Gosta Olofsson’s case and and well-known Oscar de la Renta’s claim about Mr Jacobs being “a mere copyist” are more then enough to prove my point.

Photo source: elle.com

Alber Elbaz: I spend my day perfecting a dress

I always wear a dinner jacket. I never have this definition of what goes for the morning or the evening or what works for the weekend. I like having the freedom to dress as I desire. But yes, I do wear a dinner jacket for dinner. I like to respect that sort of dress code although I often machine-wash my tuxedo so it looks very mucked-up and I will wear a bow tie, but I don't do it perfectly because I don't know how to do that knot, so I do it my way.

Usually, I spend my day perfecting a dress rather than perfecting myself. Thank God I don't have to look like a model to promote my work, because that would be a catastrophe. Nobody would buy anything! I'm behind the scenes. I could be on a diet of leaves and go to the gym 17 times a week if I really wanted it, but what I really want to do is my work. But I have asked myself: if I had a different look, would I design differently? And I think I would. I think the fact that I never feel perfect and I never feel beautiful and I never feel skinny makes me search for lightness and beauty, because these are what I feel I am missing. I always go for whatever I think I don't have.

If I wasn't a designer I would love to be a doctor. That is my fantasy, my dream. A doctor will give you a tablet if you have a headache and I will give you a dress and we both make you feel good.

The name I was born with is Albert, with a 't'. I lost the 't' because I moved to New York and I thought, it just doesn't sound good, 'Albert', not pronounced like at home, 'Alber', so I took off the 't' and got into coffee so I could live in New York, though now I live in Paris. In Judaism, in Kabbalah, which we studied in school, every letter has a power. By changing your name, you might change your life and when I took that letter out, my life did change. I was introduced to a rhythm, a speed I never had before.

When I was in kindergarten in Tel Aviv, I didn't do any drawings of aeroplanes, only dresses, and my mother asked the teacher if that was OK and the teacher said, 'Let him do it'. Is my mother an influence? You know, there would be an interesting survey on designers and their mothers. Mine - her name is Alegria - is an elegant woman but it's not like one of those stories of, 'Oh, my mother had this beautiful sable coat from Christian Dior and she wore it in Switzerland'.

My father, who was a hair colourist, died when I was young so my mother had to work very hard. But at the same time, I do believe that if you have everything, it is easy to make a dinner. When you only have flour and water and olives and potatoes, you have to be much more creative and that's what my mother is all about. She had very little but from nothing she always made something.

Some of my clothes I keep forever. I have a pair of blue shoes by Dries van Noten I wore to a meeting that changed my career. They are still my lucky shoes. But mostly I wear black. I work by looking at what I am creating in the mirror and I want to stay in the shadows. I keep my clothes for a long time. I'm not changing every season any more than I am designing a new collection and throwing the last one out. I have things I have worn again and again, but over the years, I alter them, I make them longer, shorter, I change the armhole, I change the shoulder. One of my biggest fears is arriving to the airport and checking in my suitcase because I never know if I will get it back, and I wear the same clothes, you see, day and night, winter and summer.

As to seeing women in my designs, of course I get excited. I'm not a blasé guy. I'm not taking things for granted. I'm not on a high from my own work or anything, I'm very realistic; I work and I know what I create has to go from my studio to a certain reality check.

The easiest thing would be to name some celebrity, but it is very impressive if someone wants something to wear to the Oscars. Of course it is like, 'Wow!' But I get the same thrill when I am in the boutique and I see a woman and she looks good and she looks at herself in a different way; then it is no longer about the dress but how she feels. That touches me and it moves me.

Have I had tough times? I believe in karma and I believe things happen for a reason. Ghandi said that at the end of our lives we will be sorry only for what we have not done. So if you do a lot, you go through a lot. I take nothing for granted and today I know things happened for a reason and it pushed me to a better place. At the time [of being fired from YSL] I was sorry. I am grateful now.

I think this is a fascinating time in design. Vintage is over. This is going to be a very important moment in fashion because we cannot just reproduce; we did the Twenties already, we did the Thirties, the Fifties, the Sixties, up to the Nineties. Instead, we have to think. We have to start inventing again.

This article was written by Marion Hume for The Observer’s How I get dressed series. The title of the original article was changed by me based on one of his quotes from the interview.

Photo source: The Observer Woman January 2007

Stylish quote

“If clothes look beautiful on the hangers they won’t necessarily look beautiful on the body. And that clothes which may not look good on the hanger, may look good on the body. Mr Geoffrey Beene once told me that fashion is not what’s on the back or the front of a coat but what’s in between.”

Alber Elbaz

Photo & quote source: i-D spring 2010

Beautiful reign of Alber Elbaz

“A woman told me that every time she wears Lanvin, men fall in love with her.”

Alber Elbaz

Lets continue the Lanvin week with a gorgeous retrospective of some of the most beautiful and memorable looks from every ready-to-wear fashion show that made women feel weak at the knees, every heart – skip a beat and every man – fall in love with a woman in Lanvin.

When you look at these clothes, you understand that Lanvin isn’t just about elegance and femininity, but about the timeless chic and unique personalities expressed through artfully crafted garments.

Truly, smart girls invest in Lanvin.

Fall 2002

“This was an optimistic start to a new chapter in Elbaz's career and he was loudly applauded for it.” style.com

Spring 2003

“A rare vision of luxurious dressing, balancing luster with rawness in a grown-up, wearable way.” style.com

Fall 2003

“Crafted with extraordinary skill, the collection was another step in the re-evaluation of charm and luxury that is shaping up as fashion’s newest movement.” style.com

Spring 2004

“Close up, there were many extraordinary items; but now Elbaz needs to mould and edit his technique to an image that's completely satisfying.” style.com

Fall 2004

“Alber Elbaz has been putting an inordinate amount of thought into making his vision of glamorous dressing an easy, relevant proposition for modern women.” style.com

Spring 2005

“A beautifully shaded demonstration of Elbaz's growing insight into how lovely can also mean realistic.” style.com

Fall 2005

“Each of those pieces explains why Elbaz belongs to a super elite of fashion frontrunners who are leaving most other collections in the distance.”

Spring 2006

“It showed exactly how a designer as influential as Elbaz can make the decisive difference between what went on six months ago and what's right now. Genius.” style.com

Fall 2006

“These constitute the kind of personal, under-the-radar chic that makes women rave about Elbaz” style.com

Spring 2007

“When you're stuck, you go romantic," is how the designer put it. "With freedom of spirit, you can go further. I wanted to touch technology, engineering, silicone, nylon, metal, and plastic. And a new place for the pragmatic." style.com

Fall 2007

“What Elbaz came across was a sheaf of illustrations of Lanvin's wide-shouldered thirties gowns and that was enough to set him off on a path of intense cutting research, which led to one of the strongest advances in modern dressing to come out of the Paris shows. "It's all in the sleeve," he said.” style.com

Spring 2008

“For lightness, technical brilliance, and sheer heart-racing excitement, Alber Elbaz's Spring collection was one of the most uplifting shows of the entire season.” style.com

Fall 2008

“In a season when so many have anxiously cast around for what women will want in a recession, Elbaz has intuited the best answer of all: Give us restraint, give us pragmatism, but never slam the door on the possibility of utter gorgeousness.” style.com

Spring 2009

“A counterintuitive moment, maybe, but it reflected something this designer understands as well as he does the principles of rational dressing: Even when times are dark, there's still room for clothes to make women keel over with desire.” style.com

Fall 2009

“I thought with my heart about what women need from fashion—dresses, suits, blouses, coats. Life isn't just parties and lunches.” style.com

Spring 2010

“The collection was a triumph of breathtaking technical achievement: drapey, pleated jumpsuits in polyester ("like collapsing fabric," Elbaz said); a candy-store array of pink, salmon, peach, and vermilion; a dash of extraordinary fine leather (an unforgettable carnation red dress); and a build-up of encrusted gold sequins and jewellery.” style.com

Fall 2010

“It was visually sensational and layered with dynamic contradictions.” style.com

Spring 2011

“The skin thing was a big deal. Elbaz loves a wrinkle. So he created a collection that was a hymn to skin: wrinkled in Fortuny-like pleating, stretched in all those sheaths - a spectacular foundation for increasingly heady colours.” style.com

Fall 2011

“This intriguing show might have been telling us that reality is whatever you make it.” style.com

“I love personalities. I don’t like just pretty girls. The moment I see a woman, my task is to find the piece that, when I put it on her, I will not see the clothes but I see her face. I don’t want to see a dress with a woman. I just want to see a woman. And fit doesn’t mean that it’s fitting the body. It has to fit her mind.”

Alber Elbaz

Photo sources: Vanity Fair January 2010, style.com, elle.com

Quotes sources: style.com, nymag.com