a word on wild ruffles

... I don't usually get into the collection review thingy on my blog...

... but I was surprised to read Suzy Menkes' opinion on the Viktor & Rolf show. For once, this was a very impressive runway experience, with Roisin Murphy rocking the stage (by far catchier than the - nevertheless classy - tango combo @ Hussein Chalayan) and the word "cut out" being given a new dimension...

... and the whole ruffle mania was absolutely complemented by very wearable pieces in the collection. After all, this appeared to be a very clever combination of show-stoppers, pieces made for magazine editorials only and some totally reduced dresses and pantsuits.

I admit that the perfume is a bit too melon-y and its name EAU MEGA suggests, as the Grande Dame of Austrian fashion journalism Brigitte Winkler very poignantly commented, that it could absolutely be an Issey Miyake fragrance given this kind of phonetic word play, but then, hey, without marketing skills it's hard to survive, these days...

Venice in autumn

... Venise à septembre ? I went there some weeks ago, and found a place completely different from what it would have been like in June.

J'en suis sûr. So I thought, why not write an article about my septemberly Venice experience?

It was published and is now online on Shift magazine. En anlais et japonais, bien entendu...

just in case...

... Paris is buzzing with fashion...

... and has all sorts of media allies...

... from low to high fashion...

AND, after all the talk there had been about Anna's new humaneness & humility, her not wearing sunglasses in Milan and blah - the sunglasses were on again @ Dior, and so were the crossed arms and the upright, unpenetrable posture.

Comme il faut, mode à Paris...

jours d'automne...

tshirt, American Apparel, vest Topman, trousers H&M, sneakers Nike, scarf vintage

... c'est l'automne and the beginning of fall. Therefore, yield, you colours of yonder.

Black in black with a little vintage scarf sporting oldtimers and klaxons.

PALAIS DE TOKYO

... après la fête, c'est avant la fête, hein...

AND REMEMBER : EVERY PARISIAN DOOR HAS ITS ENTRANCE CODE

what a beautiful metaphor

loora loora loora !

sac à dos

... is French for rucksack, and since every-body around here seems to be so into the topic...

... and since I got myself a really nice one after my trip to Scandinavia this summer...

... here we go. I mean, it's not endlessly compatible with les défilés de mode and everything, but...

Fjäll Räven, men är det så bra eller inte?

IN MY MAILBOX

... ouh là, les choses que je trouve dans ma boîte de courrier électronique, récemment...

... I can only repeat it over and over again: fashion is a hard business, apparently...

... meanwhile: having fun in Paris and meeting all kinds of people. Sometimes you just need to get out a little...

... à suivre, sans aucun doute...

Nuit blanche - white nights in Paris

... ouiiiiiiii ! Comme chaque année : the Nuit Blanche takes place this coming Saturday in Paris, and fashionistas as well as artsy party people will rock the town.

I remember terribly cold and dark "white nights", but this one's gonna be splendid, I'm sure.

Familiarise yourself with the programme here, and see you in the streets of Paris (no fashion parties for me this coming Saturday...).

Je suis trop curieux de voir ce qui va se passer, je pense que je resterai dans les environs de Châtelet. Ou bien je passerai par les Buttes-Chaumont. A voir. Mais, en tout cas d'ores et déjà : yippieah !

just in: Sonia Rykiel for H&M

... la star de la mode parisienne, Sonia Rykiel, a designer intricately associated with Rive Gauche Parisian chic, is the next designer to collaborate with Swedish retailing giant H&M.

Andy Warhol photographed SR in 1986 - she is a real Paris intellectual, she is...

While the world is still eagerly awaiting Jimmy Choo's shoes (I am not, actually, but you know...), Rykiel was confirmed as the next géant de la mode to be part of the H&M designer rotation that kicked off with Mr KL himself.

not by, but for Sonia Rykiel during the anniversary show last season, a SR tribute by Margiela

Not that it was the first collaboration thingy of the kind, mind you, it's just really the first one to take on such massive dimensions and persist for such a long time with an ever changing personnel.

Btw, young designers invited to design for Topshop or the likes are far from being well-paid. It's exploitation everywhere.

certains photographes...

Julia Cranz

... bon... we got the point - once you had this ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS intuition and inspiration, you just dont wanna let it go.

Of course, and why would you. Mais voyez-vous bien : there is a good reason for all that talk about the creative businesses being a HARD CHALLENGE.

Wendy & Jim & DJ Hell

Just having one idea and trying to pull it off for various customers - CELA NE VA PAS, or does it?

Julia Cranz and Wendy & Jim (& DJ Hell) are different projects, after all, aren't they.

Wendy & Jim & DJ Hell

All images: Lukas Gansterer

Semaine de la mode à Paris

Awareness & Consciousness best of selection for spring 2010 presented in Paris

... Paris Paris... despite Vienna Fashion Week (I think I've seen just about enough of that by now) and soooo many other things to do (... ahum?), I should actually and seriously busy myself with making plans for Paris fashion week.

En ce qui concerne les showrooms: apart from visiting my Austrian designer friends of course, I would die to squeeze in a showroom visit @ Trosman from Buenos Aires.

Speaking about showrooms: Christiane Gruber just sent me the address where she will be presenting Awareness & Consciousness spring 2010:

36-38 rue Charlot 75003 Paris 3–8 October 11h–20h (last day 11h-14h) Door code: 3B19 Metro: Filles du Calvaire/St-Sébastien Froissart

And I don't even know what shows I will get to attend as the invitations will be sent to my Paris address directly.

always a good go-to if you wanna know all about Austrian fashion in Paris: the Austrian Fashion Guide

As I said: fashion is a hard business...

Vienna alla milanese

Tom Rebl meets Dolce & Gabbana as well as Dsquared

... hello there. Bon. I took a little decision. This one-language posting in French seems to lead not exactly where it was supposed to. I shall therefore try something new, something else. Because, whatever, there will still be some Frenchy touchy to the whole thingy.

So, yesterday was the third (that correct?) day of MQ Vienna Fashion Week, and it brought an unpleasant encounter (whose details I cannot disclose but believe me - something REALLY UNPLEASANT happened to me) as well as some really fantastic shows. As other bloggers and specialists have already left their comments...

... I can muse about the Milan menswear look with all them briefs and sexy trunks and whatever. Males in the nude, what a thrill? Tom Rebl came and Vienna turned into a sequin-and-stiletto lovin' gay friendly fashion capital. As easy as that?

Un mot pour les francophones : je sais, enfin, cela paraît un peu bizarre, puisque c'est VIENNEPARIS et non pas, VIENNALONDON ou quoi que ce soit, mais j'avais envie d'agrandir un peu le cercle de mes lecteurs potentiels. Petites notes en français à subsister, c'est promis ...

images by Jürgen Hammerschmid and via Style.com

Vienne et le reste du monde

Peter Jensen, Londres, spring 2010 vs. Ep_Anoui, Vienne, spring 2010 (?)

... car nous vivons à l'âge post-postmoderne (ça s'appelle comment, déjà, le présent, en termes d'époque ? le postmoderné, c'est la neige d'antan, n'est-ce pas ?), nous avons bien compris que RIEN n'est plus original. Tout peut surgir et se manifester partout, en même temps ou avec un peu de décalage. Plus de reproche de plagiat possible, hein ? C'est intéressant de voir des images tellement semblables - deux fois Londres et Vienne, cette fois-ci...

Louise Goldin, Londres, fall 2009 vs. R! by Dominique Raffa, Vienne, spring 2010 (?)

MQ VFW Front Row : Huber vs Zayed vs Wintour ?

photo : Jürgen Hammerschmid

... oké, c'est Blica. qui a pris en main les choses avec son propre appareil-photo, mais puisque je déteste autant prendre des photos (à des fins professionnelles, au moins...) qu'être pris en photo, je le laisse toujours chez moi. Quoi qu'il en soit, le mannequin-vedette Anna Huber (j'avoue : jamais entendu, jamais vu...) était là et tenait à faire comprendre qu'elle était QUELQU'UN. Enfin bon.

c'est Dior Homme qui aide certains...

Et cela, avec des lunettes de soleil, pour prouver au demi-monde viennois que l'ON PORTE DES LUNETTES DE SOLEIL quand on va regarder un défilé. Ah, c'est ça ?

Anna, elle, oui. Les autres, eux, non.

Apparemment oui, car un des dirigeants responsables de peng! magazine (et styliste de l'an 2008 si je me souviens bien) faisait la même chose. Veuillez m'excuser : mais cela ne va quand même plutôt pas !

MQ Vienna Fashion Week : ouverture V.I.P.

... écoutez, ce n'est surtout pas pour vous dire que je suis tellement V.I.P. et que vous ne l'êtes pas... MAIS : le premier défilé dans le cadre de la semaine de la mode viennoise, organisé lors d'une avant-première pour les célébrités autrichiennes (une vraie honte), a eu lieu ce soir, suivie de la présentation pour les non V.I.P.

Et là où j'ai assisté à ce truc, enfin, il m'est resté dans la mémoire un enfant qui est tombé par terre et a commencé à pleurer, le sosie involontaire de Donatella Versace et qui n'avait rien à voir avec elle (mais c'était qui, cette dame siliconée qui se cachait derrière son éventail ?), Alfons Haider en train de performer des flexions (à faire rougir son entourage jeunissime, Tavi, elle est une vieille par rapport à eux...), et voilà, tout à coup, un escarpin noir à côté de la passerelle, flanqué d'un coton à démaquiller. Les choses qui se passent...