Sleeping With Christian Lacroix

We all know how much I love Christian Lacroix! As a designer he is unrivalled in his sense of colour, historical references and technique. Much collaboration has ensured utilising the talent of Monsieur Lacroix since he left the world of haute couture. With companies from Air France to Avon utilising his amazing capabilities and the cachet that a Lacroix design has.

Although it is becoming increasingly rare to be able to wear Lacroix except for vintage (and sometimes vintage is the only way to go) now we all have a chance to sleep with him! Ok not with him personally, but in several different hotels in Paris. It seems that the talent of Monsieur Lacroix knows no bounds and interior decoration is something he excels at.

Hotel le Bellechasse, Saint Germain has been entirely decorated by Lacroix and each of its 34 rooms is as individual as he is. Unassuming from the exterior upon entering the guest is immediately assaulted with an amazing array of colour, texture and design which is a tour de force and a feast for the eyes.

The Hotel du Petit Moulin is located in an old bakery in the Marais.

Lacroix says "I immediately fell for the slightly twisted perspectives, the maze-like passageways on the different floors and the new functional areas which have been added in full respect of the "old Paris" style of the classified parts of the building."

Slightly more modern than the Hotel le Bellchasse there are typical Lacroix motifs throughout the hotel like the use of coral, however each room takes its references from the history of the Marais where the hotel is located, from the 18th century through to the sixties.

Both Hotels are typically Lacroix with references and pieces all through history used in the decoration, with of course an amazing selection of colour and texture abounding. While of course not to everyone’s taste, both these places are somewhere where I would want to rest my weary head!

"I always loved the idea of hotels, of the journey around a room" Christian Lacroix.

A Scented Romance with Savoir Faire

It seems that The House of Worth was not the only couturier to produce and present a series of perfumes that told a story through their names. Jean Patou, one of the most influential and understated couturiers of the day, left a lasting legacy through his perfumes. Most notably Joy, however countless others were created which have alas fallen by the wayside.

Inspired after a purchase at the local antique fair here on Sunday of a little mint unopened bottle of Patou’s Amour Amour Parfum, and doing some research, I came up with the following.

Whereas the five perfumes of Worth, when their names were ran together, they created a poem (http://david-toms.blogspot.com/2010/09/savoir-faire-avec-les-parfums-worth.html). The three perfumes of Patou tell a story, albeit a very romantic one. First introduced together in 1925 with the help of Paul Poiret’s perfumer Henri Almeras, they fitted in perfectly with Patou’s style and his sense of humour.

Amour Amour – signalling the start of a love affair and the quickening of the heart.

Que sais-je? – What do I know? Are things to serious? questioning whether to act upon one’s feelings.

Adieu, Sagesse – Goodbye Wisdom, signals the decision of abandonment into the unknown.

The romantic side of these perfumes (from what advertising copy) I can find was only hinted on lightly with no clear thread running through each launch. Just the connection of the names together seemed to be enough.

Again, probably my montage or story is a bit darker than the original concept Patou had in mind. I could have chosen highly romantic images, however sometimes these leave me dead. Love and romance to me should be full of passion and savoir faire. I hope that I am doing Patou’s perfumes justice.

Amour Amour

Que sais-je?

Adieu, Sagesse

I have primarily used images of a certain Italian actress whom I adore for her exotic beauty along with some Boudain and Newton, and no it is not Sophia Loren!

Mad about the Girls

All too often in the world of Haute Couture names come and go. Some are revered as gods to the craft while others sink into oblivion only to come alive in museum retrospectives or on blogs like mine.

Mad Carpentier is one such name. The brainchild of two of Vionnet’s employees (who was talking of retirement in 1939) the house was created in 1940 by Mad Maltezos and Suzie Carpentier. With the advent of war and the subsequent occupation, this was extremely risky. However, with the void that was left with Vionnet’s closing, the business prospered.

These two women represented the continual evolution of Vionnet’s style and ensured its survival. Through the war years there was a certain mystique of these women as Mary Brooks Picken and Dora Loues Miller, authors of Dressmakers of France: The Who, How, and Why of the French Couture (New York, 1956) passionately enthused, "When it was almost impossible to think of luxury, of the richness of colors, of the beauty of fabrics, in a city without joy and without light…these two talented women carried on.”

The Vionnet style still continued and was sustained however two new distinct directions totally autonomous from this style were pursued. Mad Carpentier created incredibly beautiful evening dresses of extraordinary historical fantasy that were pre-runners to Dior’s new look of 1947. These gowns did not achieve the same flamboyant success of Fath and Dior because the Mad Carpentier gowns are too redolent of the past and failed to capture the spirit of the "new" necessary to the marketing and imagination of the postwar era

The other direction taken and perhaps the lasting legacy of the house were the remarkable coats for both day and evening wear. In all manner of shapes, silhouettes and textures these became virtually the hallmark of the house and were widely copied everywhere rivaling the sway that Balenciaga had achieved.

Women's Wear Daily (14 April 1948) commented, "the firm has gone its quiet way, and now ranks as a house for clothes of distinctive character rather than one taking an active or publicized role in the general development of the Paris couture. Carpentier clothes have the handmade air of Vionnet, but do not always follow the bias technique of that school of dressmaking."

Closing in 1957 Mad Carpentier turned out to be a house of traditional clothes bordering on the genteel, however offset by sensational coats. Its understated, highly proper sensibility was at odds with advanced and aggressive postwar fashion and only in the exuberance of its sculptural coats did the imagination and reputation soar.

A Cardin Summer

Serious fashionistas tend to write off Pierre Cardin these days as being passé, or just not with it. What impresses me most about Cardin when it comes to fashion is his constant refinement of his style repartee. While sure this might no be everyone’s style, I think that he can still hold his own while designing for a particular niche of client (which everyone else does). It takes a certain woman to wear Cardin.

Critics labelled his latest at Paris fashion week as disjointed and a disaster. I on the other hand believe that the clothes were instantly wearable and Cardinesque. What do you think?

Spring Savoir Faire at David Jones

Combine millions of flowers and Sydney’s premier department store and you have a virtual Garden of Eden. Full of riotous colour and temptation this is a paradise for the flower lover and shopper alike.

For 25 years David Jones, Sydney’s iconic department store has ran their annual flower show in Sydney. Heralding the beginning of spring down under in the antipodes, flower lovers flock in the droves like bees to pollen to experience this over the top flower display. Comprising of upwards of 350,000 flowers plants and foliage, floral displays are cleverly mixed with merchandise to tempt shoppers to touch smell and even buy.

Behind the scenes of this public display is almost 12 months of continual organisation, culminating in a very long night after the store closes at 5.30, to bring the concept to fruition on the opening day. Store windows and retail space comes alive, like magic, in the few hours before opening next day.

Different themes each year have Sydneysiders on edge wondering how DJ’s can top the previous year. One year a complete window was transformed with 1000’s of live butterflies. Windows take on the personas of tropical rainforests or desert landscapes depending on the whim of the floral designers.

The prospective fashions for the coming season are checked to ensure that the theme will complement them. It is after this aspect is clarified that the first meeting with the florist takes place, and the theme is presented to them, with a brief of how it is envisaged the Flower Show should look. This year is distinctly different from last year, which was very contemporary, using very bright vivid colours. The brief for each flower show is a challenge, trying to come up with an idea that is completely different from any done before.

There is a team of florists who come in to water every day at 6.00 am before the store opens and also to replace all of the spent blooms because the air conditioning and lighting causes the flowers to perish more quickly than in more natural conditions.

So if you are down under in September a little foray into DJ’s would not go astray. Maybe like Adam or Eve you will be tempted in one way or another.

*Images courtesy of Bluemountaindaisy