Chanel Paris Moscow Pre-Fall 2009
MFW Spring/Summer 2009 - Not Attending
Fall is just coming around the corner everyone, and you know what that means: fashion week madness for a month and a half. Of course as a small time blogger, one can only count to be so lucky to attend a local fashion week at all. Those who are full time fashion journalist get to do the merry-go-round the globe in four (sometimes five) different countries: New York, Milan, London, Paris and Tokyo.
On our Canadian end, we have Montreal, L’Oreal (Toronto), and Vancouver Fashion Weeks - no surprise here. The obvious difference between say NY Fashion Week and one of ours is the scale and size of the shows. NY has approximately over 70 designers last I counted, while as MFW had like - 12 designers to showcase. Also, I’ve noticed that the Canadian designers seem to showcase more so on functionality than full on glamour like the rest of the world. On one hand, this is good for buyers who own small boutiques and want to get past the flashing in fashion and get down to saleability. We’re also in an economically advantageous status as the US economy keeps going down the drain, American buyers are less likely to pick the more expensive European brands and might even give a break to local Canadian talent because - well, they’re cheaper, I’m afraid to say.
Tickets to Attend Fashion Week
This seems to be relatively new to the scene of L’Oreal and MFW for a couple of years. Both websites have posted possibilities to buy tickets to see fashion shows, unprecedented a few years ago as fashion week is usually a very restricted “media and professionals only” circle. My guess is that there are two reasons for it:
- Because Canadian Fashion Weeks aren’t as popular, media and buyers don’t fill up the entire seating chart of many shows. This I can attest, when there are smaller, unknown brands showcasing, it’s sad to see these seats half filled. Selling tickets will fill those seats and will generate extra income in the process.
- Fashion is a hot commodity thanks to magazines, reality shows, websites and blogs. The instantaneous 24/7 fashion wire can’t even compare to the “real deal” experience of a real fashion show. Going to one of these things is like going to see a concert of your favorite band, nothing compares to the real thing. Organizers know this, and they will play that card this year.
The big guns over at NY, London, Milan and Paris don’t need to sell tickets because people are just fighting to even have rights to get in in the first place. Everyone is just dying to see these shows, and bless the lucky souls who know others in the business to attend these prestigious fashion shows, they are something else all together.
This blogger is staying home this year
While the chances of bloggers attending fashion shows and events have risen over the last couple of years, fashion week is still a little out of our reach. But this may now slowly change with the likes of Inside The Tents making an initiative in helping bloggers get to these events. I’ve already attended 2 MFWs and quite frankly don’t think I’ll miss it much since I won’t be attending this year. It’s long hours, crowded, expensive (the food), and all too much brouhaha for a 20 minute show. I’ve only enjoyed 2-3 collections but there really isn’t much to say about them except describing their looks. That’s all what fashion week is about - describing a collection. 95% of the time it’s “fabulous” and a season’s “must-have”. We’re not really told why certain designers didn’t showcase this year or last year, most of the time it’s due to money constraints as they can’t afford to show at fashion week. Plus it’s a hassle to drag the numerous (useless) swag they give you, what am I to do with a plastic martini shaker and made-by-crocs shoes that don’t fit?
I suppose it’s another story if I were to go to the bigger venues since the usual suspects usually turn out more interesting pieces for show. I’d be happy to just attend one of each of the big shows just once in my life and I’d be happy enough.
I’ll be watching MFW from the comfort of my own home, in pajamas, lying on my couch with my laptop with pepsi and chips. Now that’s luxe.
Haute Couture Not For The Bourgeoisie
From January 21rst to January 24th, the Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2008 show will go on once more in Paris.
Now, people often ask “What’s the difference between Haute Couture and Pret-a-porter?”
Well, quite a lot. Namely, Haute Couture is not catered to the mass audience but rather an exclusive and very rich clientele. The very rich are very few and in between, even celebrities only cover a fraction of the truly rich people in the world. Haute Couture involves custom-made tailoring and only uses fabrics of the highest quality. More often, they are less publicized in commercial fashion as the price range of their pieces is not made for the average household income.
In the world of luxury however, the houses recognized as Haute Couture by the Federation Francaise De La Couture in Paris are very few, 11 to be exact. They would be Christian Dior, Chanel, Adeline Andre, Christian Lacroix, , Givenchy, Dominique Sirop, Emanuel Ungaro (read more about Ungaro’s newly appointed young head designer at the Business of Fashion Blog), Franck Sorbier, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Maurizio Galante, Anne Valerie Nash. This is the current list as of 2007, among the former members include Balenciaga and Lanvin. If some of those names don’t seem familiar to you, it’s because you and I are not part of the social elite and the ultra rich to have heard about them 
There are strict protocols to become a real Haute Couture House. But you’ll find much more information about why Haute Couture has become what it is today at Fashion-Era.com.
These houses are the only exception to their low-profile colleagues as Haute Couture shows in Paris are one of the most coveted media events next to Fashion Week.
I find these shows to be a designer’s fantastical carousel of art pieces more so than realistic wear. John Galliano in particular for his fantastical theatrical shows, especially his Spring 2007 collection. I think for Haute Couture you’d have to really see the collection with an open mind.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxanlY0EvY4&rel=1]
Taking it On At The Flip-Zone
Traipsing across Facebook, among the many advertising “comments” in the Montreal Fashion group, one site caught my eye called “Flip-Zone,” a new online fashion magazine.
Based in Paris, this online fashion site opened is doors just last week. With over 250 collections to browse through, Flip-Zone has made considerable progress where other online fashion magazines may lack. True to its name, it’s a website full of “flippable” pages (it looks like there’s an epidemic of flipping websites), not only that, we’re also allowed to zoom in each image, send it to a friend, click on an ad page and brought to their landing page, you can even create your own flipbooks to share with friends.
Montreal’s high end swimwear brand Aqua Di Lara’s flipbook.
The magazine also focuses on numerous non-popular (but still posh) designers in a variety of different fashion arenas such as wedding dresses, lingerie, accessories, bathing suits and sportswear. With a brief fashion profile intro on the first page, each flipbook contains only editorials (many of them runway shots) available in high quality.
Flip-Zone is optimized truly for the websurfer’s confort and joy by making their website available in different screen resolutions. From 1024×768 to 1600×1050, this is what digital fashion should be all about. High resolution for high fashion, as it was meant to be.
Sorry English-natives, the site is French-only. But they’re still in Beta, so who knows, maybe they’ll be able to afford to translate it one day.
