PARIS

By: A journal by stylist Becks Welch | February 17, 2010 | Fashion

I happily accepted my assignment from Malibu Magazine to report on Paris Fashion Week, covering the spring/summer 2010 collections, which showed in Paris in October of last year. We had talked about ideas and what the motivation behind the article would be. Being a British stylist living in Malibu, to me it seemed obvious: I’ve witnessed Malibu’s Country Mart and The Lumber Yard get a face-lift over the last few years, becoming a high-end destination shopping mecca, which indicates the obvious need or desire for these kinds of stores and fashion brands here.

Hundreds of millions have been invested in making Malibu a style-seeker’s haven for fashion-forward shoppers in Los Angeles. Stores such as Maxfields, Intermix and Madison are all selling edgy European labels side by side with the homegrown California and American designers. And it’s working … or is it? I see the story from both sides: On the one hand, I can’t help but be influenced by my European roots and the traditions of the fashion industries born out of London and Paris. But I also feel strongly that L.A. is an incredibly creative city with tremendous talent emerging in both the art and fashion scenes. The problem, as I see it, is that design in this city is somehow disregarded as not purist because of certain snobberies associated with L.A. Perhaps it’s due, in part, to the whole celebrity culture and the fact that L.A.’s denim brands have dominated the press, overshadowing any emerging talent that might come through. I was curious to see what happens when L.A. and Paris meet. Are these two fashionable cities light years apart or is there something that connects them?

The most famous of all the designers to come out of L.A. is arguably Rick Owens. Hailing from Southern California and a student at the Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design here, he is celebrated globally for his avant-garde and subversive eye for couture. However, since 2003, Owens has lived and worked in Paris, where his fashion house is now based. But there is also a small group of designers who have remained in L.A. who manage to be taken seriously, among them Rodarte and Thomas Wylde, both based in downtown L.A., and Tom Binns Jewelry based in Venice, to name the most Vogue-worthy, but what about the rest?

So, I decided to make this piece about meeting people during Fashion Week who have a connection to both cities and get a read on what I think its all about from the shows to the parties to the sights and smells.

For the uninitiated, Fashion Week is, by definition, a weeklong industry event designed to let fashion designers, brands or “houses” show off their latest collections during elaborate runway shows and for buyers to get a peak at next season’s trends. It lets the industry know what’s “in” and consequently what’s “out” for the upcoming season.

There are four prominent fashion weeks held each year in the international fashion capitals of Milan, London, New York and Paris. The schedule begins with New York, followed by London, with the penultimate Fashion Week in Milan and ending with the venerable Paris event. These cities are the “big four,” but they are being followed now by emerging fashion weeks held all over the world.

There is no doubt that the dominance of these four events benefits industry participants. For example, buyers, journalists, models and celebrities can limit their travel and simply move from one city to the other over the four-week period. However the arrangement has been criticized for stifling design talent in emerging fashion hubs such as Los Angeles (which has had its own Fashion Week event since 2002), but how true is this?

I looked through the schedule of shows, which is overwhelming to say the least, and selected the designers whose collections I most wanted to see. My hit list included: Chanel, Givenchy, Stella McCartney, Chloe, Viktor & Rolf, Roland Mouret and Louis Vuitton. There were several others I was keen to see, but tickets are often hard to come by, so in the absence of a good “in,” its nigh on impossible to get seats. I then planned to make appointments with L.A.-based designers selling their collections in Paris for the week. Finally, with my photographer (who was coincidentally from L.A.) booked and briefed to shoot the shows I was attending, I was ready for battle to commence!

DAY 1: J’ARRIVE!
Saturday, Oct. 3
I arrived at the entrance to the Hotel Costes situated near the Palaise de Royal, a mere stone’s throw from the Ritz and the tents that hold many of the designer’s fashion shows that I’d planned to attend during my short stay. I stepped out of the taxi and breathed in the sights and smells of Paris: A heady combination of expensive perfume, cigarette smoke and dumpsters filled the warm October air. I was greeted by a black-suited doorman, who looked more the Dior Homme than the Armani variety, and led down the dark, mirrored corridor to the hotel reception desk.

This 19th-century townhouse is now a five-star hotel, bar and lounge, which opened in 1991 under the direction of architect and designer Jacques Garcia. Situated right in the heart of the Rue Saint Honore fashion district, The Costes is now one of Paris’ shining stars. Since its opening, it quickly became the destination hotel for the fashion elite and therefore a rite of passage for anyone visiting during Fashion Week. Its main draw is the notoriously chic bar and terrace restaurant. When I walked in, as you may expect, it was a busy, very scene-y, super fashion crowd jostling for seats in the “to be seen” courtyard in the middle. It was a kind of organized chaos — partly due to the extremely dark lighting and busy décor and partly due to the general energy and volume level that reverberates through all the tiny hotel alcoves and private bars. I took a moment to view the scene. In the busy reception area waiting to be seated in the restaurant was Adrian Grenier from the HBO series Entourage, and the fashion belle de jour Camilla Belle (sans Maman). After a confusing language-barrier-befuddled check-in, I headed upstairs to my room. Talking in quiet voices in the tiny lift were actress Gwyneth Paltrow and singer Michael Stipe. This hotel certainly was living up to its reputation.

I was staying in the suite of the talented, British-born L.A. fashion designer Paula Thomas, of the label Thomas Wylde. With my bags unpacked and with no plans yet made for my first night, I waited for Thomas to return. She whirled in around 6 p.m., clothed head to toe in black (de rigueur wardrobe for Paris Fashion Week), and we quickly headed out to meet the “girls” who would be the focus of my article and a good insight into the workings of this event from a group of women who live in or came from L.A., and who all know Paris like the back of their expensively manicured hands.

The first person I met was Thomas’ PR agent, Dovie Mamikunian, a Beverly Hills native and serious heavy-hitter in Paris. Owner of D&M Media, Mamikunian represents many of the sought-after, edgier fashion brands in Paris, including Roland Mouret and Thomas Wylde. Also in attendance were the Malakpour sisters, Maryam and Marjan, two well-known L.A. fashion stylists. Maryam consults for brands such as Levi’s, La Perla, Costume National and Thomas Wylde, and also is a stylist to celebrities such as Heidi Klum, Keith Richards and Courtney Cox-Arquette. Her sister, Marjan, has been a stylist for 10 years and has transformed leading musicians in the industry such as The Dixie Chicks, Britney Spears, Shakira, Jesse McCartney, The White Stripes, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Smashing Pumpkins. I soon learned that they were, in fact, launching their new shoe line, Newbark, which they excitedly told me about, and I was really looking forward to talking to them about their work and their reason for being in Paris. Also joining us for dinner was the wife of jeweler Stephen Webster, Anastastia. The jewelry company will soon to be launching its line for Gerard in L.A. at the prestigious Rodeo store.

With the team assembled, we headed out. Dinner was to be at Caviar Kaspia, on Place de La Madeleine. A kind of old-school-style caviar restaurant, its décor is reminiscent of an old French grandmother’s sitting room, with lace doilies and ancient glass cabinets with floral-patterned china. The service is so friendly and the food was so simple and delicious. There was Bison Vodka straight up all round, with heaps of caviar served on Bellinis — it was decadence in the extreme! Dinner finished up around 10 p.m., and as we got up to head to the next destination, I noticed the designer Antonio Berardi and Vanity Fair fashion editor Jessica Deal also enjoying the relaxed atmosphere and expensive fare.

And then we were off. We decided to head to the infamous Hemingway bar at the Ritz — always a who’s-who bar of the fashion pack. The Ritz is the hotel of choice for Anna Wintour and Grace Codington of American Vogue, as well as the other fashion royalty, so it attracts everyone like a moth to a flame.

The night rolled to a close, and at 2 a.m., I pulled out my show schedule for the following day and was relieved to see that my first show, Viktor & Rolf, was not until the afternoon.

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