Written and photographed by Lisa Klein.
Paris! Paris! Paris!
I just got back from the first of what will hopefully be many trips to Paris Fashion Week! I was beyond thrilled when I learned that Fashiontographer received media credentials so of course, I had to go. As one of my wise friends stated, “If the question is Paris, the only answer is ‘yes’!”
From the second I landed at Charles de Gaulle I knew I was going to have an amazing time. Having never been to Paris and having studied French for seven years, I was very much looking forward to being immersed in the culture and fashion. I was not disappointed.
Our apartment was the perfect size for our group and in a great location. Each meal was spectacular (ask me at some point about my heavenly $100 filet of sole.) Being able to see with my own eyes the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Palais, Notre Dame and the Louvre was an experience I will never forget. I saw enough to know I want to return as soon as possible and stay for as long as I can.
I watched my first Paris Fashion Week show, Allude, from the front row. It was held in a small room in the Grand Palais and unlike New York with its carnival atmosphere, everyone was taking the show very seriously. I felt like I was in a fabulous French fashion dream. Thankfully in all the excitement I remembered the first rule of sitting in the front row when wearing a skirt — you must make sure to cross your legs.
My afternoon of leisurely walking in the rain from the Louvre to Les Beaux-Arts de Paris for my second show was truly magical. The only cohesive thought my brain could manage was that song on repeat, “I love Paris in the winter, when it drizzles…” At one point I was walking behind a woman in black carrying a red Valentino shopping bag. I followed her for as long as possible.
My French fashion dream continued to expand on itself and add new dimensions when I met, while eating perhaps the best quiche ever created, a photographer who went to my high school. In a cafe. In Paris. We walked together to my second show, Lie Sang Bong for which I had another front row seat. I decided to just give in and fully surrender to this dream that seemed to have no desire to let me go. It was a beautiful show.
I think there is nothing as lovely as walking at night in Paris, slightly damp and cool, with the lights of the Eiffel Tower in the distance. You feel that anything is possible.
Leaving Paris proved to be difficult for many reasons, least of all due to the mistake of not buying the correct metro ticket, but aside from that, I did not want my French Fashion Dream to end. I have been fully entranced by the beauty of the city and am very much looking forward to returning as soon as possible. Au revoir until next time.
+ READ TRAINS, MACHINE GUNS, AND ALEXANDER MCQUEEN (the “Metro ticket incident”)
