The end of an era – Merce Cunningham
The Merce Cunningham Dance Company is in Paris, performing for the last time in The City of Light, their home away from home. The French have always embraced Merce’s work more so than anywhere else in the world. The Company is in its last weeks of their Legacy Tour that began in February 2010 after the passing of Merce in July 2009. After Paris, the Company performs its last 6 performances back home in New York City at the Park Avenue Armory, the last being on New Year’s eve. The company will disband after this final performance and the dancers will go their separate ways. Merce’s works will live on through the Cunningham Dance Foundation.
Anna Finke, wardrobe supervisor and costume designer for the Company’s last performance in New York, has a great preview write up on Vogue.com . The famous unitard makes its last turn at the Armory. These unitards are printed with a series of photographs taken by Anna from the top floor of the Westbeth studio, home to the Company for about four decades. This unitard has had many incarnations, but these designed by Anna will be the last impressions……….ever.
photo courtesy of Thomas Prior and Vogue.com
John Galliano Suspended at Dior????
Is it true? A heated verbal tussle at a Paris bar this past week with a couple involving anti-Semitic slurs on the part of Mr. Galliano, involving a visit to the police station and all? Can it be? Or is he just trying to steal the limelight as Milan fashion week is going on?
Read the NY Times article here.
More to come….
photo courtesy of: unidentified
LANVIN @ H&M – Hiver 2010
It’s been well over a month since my last post. Fashion week in Paris wrapped up and as I was finalizing the last of the orders, I took what was left to be done with me and headed to the U.S. on vacation. Since my return to Lyon, I fell into one of those mini writing ruts. I chalk it up to lack of fashion stimulation. THEN…. a major event takes place around the world…. well, major enough to get me moving for a retail outing…..
It’s Tuesday, November 23rd. Here in Lyon, Paris, Madrid, New York, Tokyo, Kuwait, Shanghai, London, Antwerp, Warsaw, Seoul, Glasgow and at least a hundred more locations… Alber Elbaz joined forces with the mighty Swedish retailer H&M and rolled out both a special men’s and women’s collection, Lanvin H&M.
I don’t know about all the other cities, but when I inquired about this auspicious day, I was duly informed that the store would open at 8am this Tuesday and entry into the store would be on a first come first serve bracelet system. First come first serve means you arrive the earliest possible, you wait. You get first dibs on the 31 women’s r-t-w styles and a nice selection of accessories and shoes as well as the 23 men’s r-t-w styles and some manly accessories which include the infamous Alber noeud papillon or bow tie. I am not sure if this was entirely true, but this is a one time thing and there will be no second deliveries or reorders.
I can get as excited about a major fashion tremor as the next fashion person, but because I have my wits about me, I strolled into the store here in Lyon at approximately 1:30pm. The queues were gone outside the store and no one was there to offer me a bracelet for entry. I wouldn’t be needing one at this hour. Fashion tardiness. I walked into the second floor area where they were housing Lanvin Women’s and I understood where all the staff had gone. Here they all were, trying to clean up after the carnage that took place for the past 4 hours or so. I am relieved I wasn’t here earlier.
You often hear that after Stella McCartney and Karl Lagerfeld every last piece was sold in the first 2 hours. Well…. I can personally attest that there might have been some exaggeration, but before my eyes, I witnessed that just about most of it was gone. There were walls that were bare of clothes in the shop they had provided. I cannot lie and say that there were no clothes left… but it appeared to be multiples of the same 5 styles that were left and a smattering of shoes and necklaces. The styles in multiples that remained must have been real duds because everything else was GONE. Literally. The one style that had the most leftover is the one on the mannequin to the right in the above photo. It’s eerily similar to a style from the pre Spring 2011 collection that I just sold in the showroom in Paris this past July. Albeit… the tulle was stiffer… ok, a lot lot lot stiffer and it was a bit too full. It would take up way more space than your dining companions could stand at your next dinner party table or dance floor… but the retail was only 199 euros. ( not even 10% of the original price! ) I love the dress and wonder why the crowd left it behind… too sophisticated? Too expensive? It seems the items that didn’t sell to the piece were the higher ticket items. Those that were closer to the 200 euros mark. There were tee shirts that started for 20-29 euros and it went up from there for dresses, trench coats, skirts, jackets. The collection was predominantly re-dos of the dresses Alber is so known and loved for.
I then headed up to the next floor to the men’s area. The aftermath was not as grim just as I imagined. A quick perusal and a quick sigh… here, too, the best pieces were sold out. Having pre-scouted the offerings on the website beforehand, I knew what I wanted to zero in on. But alas… I was going to go home empty handed. WAIT… what’s that? Out of the corner of my eye, behind 20 of the same patchwork leopard print tee shirts that no man will be wearing in Lyon, I spot a lonesome short, dark blue, 3 button, glenn plaid jacket with black ribbon trim hiding itself.
I grab at the hang tag… IT’S MY SIZE! It’s been sitting here waiting for me. What a stroke of luck that had nothing to do with timing because I was late, late, late by fashionista clocks. It’s also one of my favorite styles I had been eyeing on the website. While I was trying it on… two clients walked up to me and asked where I found it ( I sadly replied that it was the last one on the rack ) and if I was really going to buy it? Of course I was taking it. I didn’t let it go of it the rest of the time I was in the store.
Alber Elbaz and Lucas Ossendrijver, Lanvin’s Men’s designer, did an amazing collaboration with H&M. The collections were tight and well priced and very obviously hit the right note with its customer base. The clothes looked great for the price. I am certain that in cities like Paris, New York, London, Kuwait… there were plenty of Lanvin devotees that have never set foot in an H&M until this event. The Lanvin team and H&M even did a special garment bag, hanger and shopping bag for this special day. They truly went the whole route for this joint project.
As far as high profile designers and mass retailers go… why not? It’s usually a one time thing and PR is off the charts for both the designer and mass retailer. It spikes sales in a major way and then it’s over. NEXT! The only two designers that have signed on for a bit more of a longer term stay is Jil Sander at Uniqlo and Olivier Theyskens now at Theory. ( Theory isn’t quite mass but you get what I mean ) I still believe that with these collaborations, luxury remains special as it is meant to be, but for a fleeting moment, a designer can reach further into more people’s closets. Clients who have the same desires and tastes, but because of a little thing like economic boundaries, would never see a Lanvin cocktail dress but in a magazine, has access to it at their price point for a few limited days if not hours. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion.
Where in the world is Claude Montana?
Before I can go further this new season, there is a sighting I feel I need to report. A sighting that cannot go without mention. Claude Montana is alive and well and very present on the street….. his street. Every single time I am on rue Saint Honore right about rue de l’Arbre Sec and rue du Pont Neuf before heading into Le Marais proper, I run into him. This has happened at least 5-6 times in the past few years, but last week…. I said to myself, you need to stop and ask the man what he has been up to.
This is a designer that helped define Paris fashion in the 80’s. Alongside Thierry Mugler, they shouldered padded their colorful way through a decade of very unforgettable fashion. Some would rather forget but you cannot take away from Montana’s influence on French fashion and how his name made an indelible mark in fashion history. The one fact many people do not know is that he designed couture at Lanvin from 1990-92. So take that!
( photos courtesy Claude Montana ) by the way… does she, in the leather coat, look familiar to you? Any First Ladies of the country I live in come to mind???
So back to my conversation with Claude Montana and the big question I asked him….
DC: Bonjour, vous etes Monsieur Montana, oui? ( Hello, you’re Mr. Montana, yes? )
CM: Oui… vraiment. ( Yes…. really )
DC: Vous allez bien? ( How are you? )
CM: Pas mal du tout, merci. Et vous? ( Not bad at all, thank you. And yourself? )
DC: Tres bien, merci. Chaque fois quand je passe par cette rue, je vous croise. ( Very well thank you. Every time I am on this street, I run into you. )
CM: Bien sur, j’habite juste la. C’est ma rue. ( Of course, I live right there. It’s my street. )
DC: Si je peux vous demander, vous faites quoi maintenant? ( If I may ask you, what are you doing these days? )
CM: Maintenant…. pas grand chose! ( Nowadays? Not much at all! )
With that said and nothing new learned, I asked if I could have my photo taken with him. Then he continued on his way with a kind smile and a wave in his small, cropped jacket over a bright red hoody.
