03.01.07

Haute Couture

Posted in Paris Life at 9:58 pm by rachel

Last night I went to a fashion show of the designer Sophia Kokosalaki, creatively held inside the Musée de l’Homme.  It was my first time going to such an event, and so a fashion-savy friend warned me that everything would probably be running  late, and that the actual runway walking would fly by.  The show started an hour late and lasted about 20 minutes.  But it was fun!  You can’t tell by the blurry picture I snuck, but the clothes were actually pretty ready to wear.  Lots of bubble skirts that I have the urge to try to make myself, if only I had my sewing machine here!

What was most exciting was simply watching the whole process surrounding the event.  I waltzed right in through the door and just followed a few photographers up the winding paths and staircases, a half dozen or so ushers greeting me along the way.  I must have looked like I knew what I was doing, because I went right through the doors of the not-quite-so-ready runway.  I quickly realized I was in the wrong place and found a nice window ledge to sit on outside the room, which just so happened to have the perfect view of the Eiffel Tower.

A friendly fashion student stood next to me; she had snuck in with someone else’s name and was hoping her friends would be able to do the same. The crowd seemed to be a mixture of the fashion curious and the fashion obsessed (I was expecting more of the latter).  There were buyers&blackberries, journalists, and many exaggerated versions of the fashionistas I see wandering around our Marais neighborhood.  My circa-January 2007 outfit was so extremely passé when compared to the boxy cut tops and short poofy skirts that I will be able to afford in 2009, when the tenth knock-off of such items are available at TJ Maxx.

Enough about the quirky crowd, however:  The models’ marching was the biggest surprise.   I do know that a runway show is really about the clothes, and I do appreciate designers’ work as a form of art. It is an expression of creativity that influences or can be influenced by the way we live and how we think about ourselves in our time. But the side view that I had of the models walking down the runway revealed the disturbing arched backs and jerky footsteps for which these women train for years.  At one point, I mistook a protruding hip bone for a poof in one of the skirts.  Without thinking about any sort of social implications or issues of body image, I just found it strange that this could possibly be the most effective way to show off the handiwork of a talented clothing designer.  It must look better in photographs… or perhaps I would like to think it would look great on someone “real” like me!

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