Perhaps under the influence of eccentrics Thierry Mugler and Jeremy Scott, where he held stints, Quentin Veron is crazy about fur. The young Frenchie, a newcomer to Paris Fashion Week, designs and makes his coats, jackets and accessories (like great Russian hats, or ushankas) at the esteemed Paris workshop of Patrick Lestarquit—but these aren’t your grandmother’s heavy furs stuffed with mothballs…

You grew up in the middle of France, in Clermont-Ferrand. Did you have a strong fashion point of view early on?
When I was a teenager, you could be a skater and listen to rock or a bad boy and listen to rap. If you were out of those two groups you were considered a dork. Outside of Paris, it’s hard to find cool clothes and there are almost no vintage stores. I found my own style when I moved to Paris. Now I know where to find clothes I like, but I want to create pieces that are different.

Who inspires you, in real life or in cinema?
My collections are constructed like tales. I create my own characters, but I’m truly inspired by the universe depicted in Tim Burton films. That universe, tinged with darkness, also represents my creative vision.

Tell me about your experiences at Jeremy Scott in Los Angeles.
Jeremy is an amazing character with a superb energy. Sometimes, to reenergize us as we worked hard in his atelier, he’d come and sing and do a few dance moves. It forced us to smile. Or occasionally, when we were working late hours, he’d tell us stories about living in Paris, which I loved.

What did you think of L.A. fashion?
People really dress up there, they have fun. But of course I’m speaking of the crowd I was hanging out with, not the Hollywood crowd, who dress up only in designer clothes. It was interesting for me to start from zero in a city I didn’t know anything about. Normally I love to wear layers, but it was so hot there that I had to find another way to show off my style.

Your clothes are made at Patrick Lestarquit’s workshop. What is that like?
It’s amazing. I’m surrounded by fur. It feels like an older era with all the handcrafted work. I choose the skins, staple them, try out some mixes. Patrick Lestarquit teaches me techniques and how to choose my skins. He’s like my mentor. Then I have two people working for me.

One is a Greek man, a specialist of minks. He’s been working with fur for at least 40 years, since he was 13. The other is a woman who takes care of all the linings, and she sews everything by hand. It’s going back to basics. It’s not like you just make a drawing and send it to the other side of the world to be made.

Is it true you only got into fur about two years ago?
Yes, but I always wore and liked fur. When I finished school, I asked Patrick if I could come to his workshop. I became a kind of apprentice and fell in love with the craft. Touching fur everyday reminds me of my childhood. My father is a professional horse rider, and I loved working with him.

You’ve said “fur always existed and human beings always wore it.” Okay, it’s natural, but it’s also controversial. Why fur?
The smell, the feel, the way it looks and moves. I mean, fur is like a diamond. It’s unique, beautiful and makes women feel pretty.

What do you think of PETA protesters? They make me laugh!

Have you ever been confronted by anti-fur people?  Nope.

Where do you get your furs? Have you ever hunted?
I only use farm-raised furs, animals that are specifically raised to be fur, not wild animals. I don’t think anyone would go hunt a cow to have their steak.

Could you envision yourself designing pieces in other materials, or is it fur forever?
I have a fashion designer background, I’m not just a furrier. In fact, for my next collection, I’m starting to add other materials. But fur will always be the center of my collections.

Tell me about your experiences at Jeremy Scott in Los Angeles.
Jeremy is an amazing character with a superb energy. Sometimes, to reenergize us as we worked hard in his atelier, he’d come and sing and do a few dance moves. It forced us to smile. Or occasionally, when we were working late hours, he’d tell us stories about living in Paris, which I loved

Joelle’s Tips:

The Furrier: Quentin Veron

The source: via Hint Fashion Magazine

Photos Credits: Courtesy  Jenny Lexander for Quentin Vernon

Derriere is a fairly unique restaurant concept in the heart of Paris. It offers to its guests the qualities of having a gourmet dinner in a restaurant with the comfort and warmth of eating in a traditional Parisian home. The basic idea behind this concept was to make guests feel as if they are invited and treated in a friend’s house – a concept that is lately starting to become more and more popular amongst Parisian restaurants, bars or even clubs.

Starting with the site of the venue, Derriere is located in the 3rd district of Paris amongst numerous bars and restaurants of the area. Its name (derriere=behind) originates from its exact location, which right at the back of 404 restaurant and Andy Wahloo cocktail bar in la rue des Gravilliers. As you walk on, hidden at a rather exclusive spot of the street Derriere appears as surprise offer amongst the options of Le Marrais.

What is very distinguishing about this restaurant is its atmosphere, which again provides its focal point. With the decoration of a French baroque house, Derriere is equipped with numerous ‘little touches’ that make the visitor feel as if they are having a family dinner, or one amongst friends – so that they do feel easy to behave likewise. Little wooden chairs, messy bookshelves loaded with huge piles of books, an old ‘baignoire’, a bed placed in the middle of the room space, a ping-pong table and lots of other objects that add a little something to making Derriere ‘feel like home’.

Upon their arrival the ‘guests’ of the restaurant are welcomed by the staff and are asked to choose their sitting according to their mood, having to choose between settling in the traditional yet cozy dining room, playing ping-pong in the home-like decorated salon, watching a film in the ‘movies’ designated area or having a cocktail with their friends in the boudoir.

The venue also offers a more quite area on the upstairs, which functions as a bedroom, and guests can go to relax.

What should not forget to mention is Derriere’s famous ‘secret room’. This refers to a delicately discrete fumoir (smoking room), which is a hushed whispered by many. With its entrance door looking like an old baroque wardrobe no one expects that opening it will lead you to a private room where smoking is ‘off-the record’ allowed.

Regarding the cuisine and menu options offered by Derriere, it could be said that the proposals are more or less similar to most hype restaurants of its genre offering the typical ‘revised’ French cuisine. What is rather interesting is the menu itself. Derriere has commissioned the design and graphics of the menus to Ich&Kar, also responsible for the graphic design of the famous Momo in London.

The menus are printed in thick paper illustrating vintage images such as the ones shown, whereas each dish carried in the menu is accompanied by its dictionary definition.
Regarding drink choice, being a French restaurant Derriere offers a large variety of wines whereas cocktails and champagne are also available upon request of the ‘guests’.
Derriere is open for lunch all weekdays from 12.00 to 2.30 and for dinner all week except Monday from 20.00 to midnight. As we all seek warmth and comfort, it is better to book at least five days in advance…

The menus are printed in thick paper illustrating vintage images such as the ones shown, whereas each dish carried in the menu is accompanied by its dictionary definition.
Regarding drink choice, being a French restaurant Derriere offers a large variety of wines whereas cocktails and champagne are also available upon request of the ‘guests’.

Derriere is open for lunch all weekdays from 12.00 to 2.30 and for dinner all week except Monday from 20.00 to midnight. As we all seek warmth and comfort, it is better to book at least five days in advance…

So secretly  Chic!

Joelle’s Tips:

The Restaurant Derriere 69, rue des Gravilliers 75003 Paris + 33 1 44 61 91 95
info@derriere-resto.com

Photo Courtesy: Andrea Ferrari and Owen Franken

Production: Studio Pepe Milan

Source: Via Yazer

When Marc Jacobs found himself in a meeting on a recent Monday morning to brainstorm about Louis Vuitton’s next fashion advertising campaign, inspiration struck. “I just blurted out, ‘I think we should do Madonna,’” said the designer, Vuitton’s creative director, mentioning he’d attended a concert by the pop icon the night before in Paris. “I was totally just blown away by it, and moved by her performance, by what she had to say, and her energy.”

As the meeting went on, Jacobs tapped out a message to Madonna on his BlackBerry, and within about five minutes came the reply: “I’d love to.”

The result is six atmospheric pictures of a smoldering Madonna by Steven Meisel that will break in a range of fashion magazines this February. “It’s a big change from what we were doing. It tells a story,” said Antoine Arnault, Vuitton’s director of communications. “This I think is an amazing coup, but more than that, there’s real logic behind it. It’s very linked to Marc’s fashion show.”

Although Arnault declined to give figures, he said media budgets for the fashion campaign would be on par with a year ago. And he dismissed as “absurd” reports pegging Madonna’s fees at $10 million. “It’s very far away from that,” he assured.

The campaign marks the end of Vuitton’s six-year collaboration with photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, with the parting characterized as amicable, and another reunion for long-time collaborators Madonna and Meisel. Jacobs last worked with Meisel in his Perry Ellis days. (Arnault noted it’s “very probable” Vuitton’s association with Meisel will continue.)

The campaign takes the very Parisian theme of Jacobs’ hit spring Vuitton collection, with a smoky French bistro the setting, and the sepia-toned images evoking a Brassai atmosphere. “As cliché as they are, I love all these French references,” the designer said. (Although the restaurant, Figaro, is on North Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles).

“I still feel it looks like beautiful, gorgeous Madonna,” Jacobs said about the images. “Excepting the references and excepting the clichés, this still feels very today. And it didn’t feel so much like a fashion shoot, it feels like portraits.”

The shoot wrapped up in less than a day and without incident, although Jacobs said hordes of paparazzi literally “appeared out of the bushes” the moment Madonna arrived. “It went from a quiet street to complete chaos,” he said.

The designer also marveled at the singer’s incredible fitness that allowed her to recline, her back arched, on bentwood chairs, or shoot a leg straight up in the air, no sweat. “She’s so sure of herself as an icon and as a woman. It was her idea to do the fishnets,” Jacobs said. “What fascinates me the most about her is her never-ending energy, and the idea of becoming and changing. She’s an artist who’s unafraid to use her voice.”

Arnault said the fashion campaign would appear “very strongly” in February and March issues and with few changes in media placements. “We’re staying on target,” he stressed.

The first visuals will spotlight slouchy bags in monogram canvas and monogram-embossed leather, along with ethnic-inspired sandals, bangles and sexy ready-to-wear. In tandem, Vuitton will continue to run its “core values” campaign, with spots featuring Sean Connery, the latest celebrity spokesman, continuing into next year. Analysts have estimated Vuitton spends more than $250 million annually on advertising, most of it print-driven.

Joelle’s Picks:
The Video

The Cafe: Figaro Bistro 1802 N. Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA, 90027 – Tel +1 323.662.1587

Photos credits: Steven Meisel for Louis Vuitton All rights reserved

” In fashion you are not a fortune teller, you’ve got dead lines otherwise you are dead”

Karl Lagerfeld, January 2009

Karl Lagerfeld, the couturier who recently wrote the epitaph for “bling” and conspicuous consumption, set the tone for  arecession luxury in his haute couture collection for Chanel in Paris last week.

Neither a single pearl earring, nor a glimmer of gilt jewelery was allowed to tarnish this Spring/Summer array of clothes as pure as the driven snow.

The models even wore white, paper head-dresses created, in origami-style, by the Tokyo milliner, Kamo, and their nails were painted white.

The clothes, exquisitely-cut, as if with a butter-knife, were mainly in parchment-cream and virgin white a one of a Coco Chanel s favorite colors from the start of her career in the 1920s. An occasional flash of black PVC or smudgy-grey rose-print, lent added sobriety.

The show was staged in a former bank, its columns and ceiling festooned with elaborate white paper flowers and doilies paper is my favorite material, Lagerfeld declared. It was a feast for the shredder or recycling plant.

The British actress, Keira Knightly, the ˜face of Chanel s Coco Mademoiselle perfume, was among the celebrities seated at small tables, covered with paper table-cloths, to watch the show, along with James Bond girl, Olga Kurylenko; Marianne Faithfull; and Anna Mouglalis.

The traditional Chanel cardigan suit was reinterpreted, in tweed, silk and sequins, as a contemporary two- or three-piece; its jacket shrunken to a detachable yoke, its skirt an A-line with inverted pleats or over-panels at the sides.

Feather-light embroideries and beading, as discreet as a Swiss bank account, embellished the graceful evening wear.

“We are entering a phase of reality fashion.” said Lagerfeld. “This is right. This is exactly what Chanel did; she wore the clothes she designed. We talk about the financial crisis, but it is also healthy. People who have been making 20% increase, year after year, and then are not making 20% any more, they are not poor. So don’t cry for them. We have got into bad habits and it is not a bad thing to have a new starting point.”

Lagerfeld was quick to distance himself from the two movies about the life of  Coco Chanel, due for release towards the end of this year, one starring Anna Mouglalis, the other Audrey Tatou.

I had nothing to do with them,he said.

He also lambasted the American television production starring Shirley MacLaine as Gabrielle Chanel, saying: She (MacLaine) should have lost 30lbs. Chanel was NEVER fat, even in her eighties

Joelle’s Picks:

Watch the Video:

Philippe Starck announced last week that he will retire in two years. But he also took the opportunity to savage the entire idea of design, and to express regret for many of the designs which have made him so famous.

“I was a producer of materiality and I am ashamed of this fact. Everything I designed was unnecessary. I will definitely give up in two years’ time. I want to do something else, but I don’t know what yet. I want to find a new way of expressing myself… design is a dreadful form of expression.” — (Via Breitbart)

Although to some, Philippe Starck had over-extended his design hand, in a Pierre Cardin-esque way, it is still a surprising comment, with so many of his designs – from juice squeezers to toothbrushes – still on sale.

Starck believes that the role of the designer will be replaced by the personal coach, the gym trainer, and the diet consultant. But there are three things in which Starck still believes; love, mattresses and a “good pillow”. So if he is restless at any of the world’s Starck hotels, he can always find comfort in a Conrad Hotel with its new Pillow proliferation program.

Paris Fashion Week started with a colorful bang thanks to the Manish Arora spring/summer ‘08 show.

The Indian designer, who made his Paris debut after a successful turn at London Fashion Week, infused a mind-boggling kaleidoscopic of colors, shapes, fabrics, beads, crystals and cut-outs into his PopArt-inspired collection.

Mini dresses, long skirts, shiny trousers, tailored jackets and crazy colored boots featured amazing appliqué of butterflies and landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower. Headpieces were also a key element to the collection in an array of different colors and designs.

The final piece a glow-in-the-dark gown, wowed crowds with its six-foot train and 1,500 carefully placed butterflies.( see picture in photo gallery below) Manish Arora is known for his vivid palette of riotous colours and kitsch motifs. His garments combine contemporary silhouettes with a range of traditional Indian craft methods including embroidery, appliqué and beading.

Having studied at the National Institute of Fashion Technology in New Delhi, Manish Arora set up his eponymous label in 1997. In 2005, having exhibited and shown his work extensively both in India and internationally, he joined the schedule at London Fashion Week.

Manish Arora label appeals to a wide cross section of individuals among them are the, smart urban women, professionals, socialites and movie stars. Numerous celebrities have sported his creations and he has a faithful following among the smartest names not just in India but also worldwide. Anoushka Shankar wore a specially designed Manish Arora outfit at the Grammy Awards 2003.

Manish Arora has collaborated with Reebok to design a range of shoes to be sold at very select Reebok outlets and Manish Arora Fish Fry stores under the brand name Fish Fry f This is the first time an Indian fashion designer has partnered a multinational sports brand.

“There is so much to do. You can wander off in space or in time, set out for Tierra del Fuego or for King Midas’s court.

”Jean-Dominique Bauby . The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

After Prague I came back to my new routine in Naples. Everyday, early in the morning I would drink a large glass of a delicious freshly squeezed orange juice, sometimes with tiny clementines picked from the neighbor trees in the hills of the very old residential quarter of Posillipo. The Italian blend of warm strong coffee aroma would wake me up just on time to see at distance from my bed, the orange winter sun rise on the Vesuvius in the large bay of Naples.

Long morning walks to Marechiaro lungomare and back home early for lunch, where the green vegetable of the day would be picked in a small truck owned by a man called Salvatore right behind the old Palazzo where I stayed. His son Enzo a few yards away would have the tomatoes and herbs. Basil is only found in the Summer therefore something else is offered instead depending on the day. Seasons still exists in this corner of the world and globalisation is thought as something bello ( nice) but probably for someone else.

On my way to New York, with a connection to Paris, a friend from Brazil calls me on my cell…” You are kidding? You are in Paris and are not going to see Dr Sebagh?” A little ashamed not to know exactly who is doctor Sebagh I answer with a question ” Should I?”- ” Are you nuts? , He’s the world anti-aging Jewish Guru, I will call myself to set you an appointment right now, you’ll thank me !”

Here I am on a rainy day in Paris entering this very old 1900 iron elevator leading me to the second floor entrance where a very tall and skinny blond woman, dressed in a sport outfit and golden sneakers (certainly a model) speaks Russian on the phone, while leaving the exclusive door office open for me with a quick smile .Her skin is gorgeous white and perfect. A pretty and very long haired assistant dressed in trendy 1960 vintage-look jeans with a warm welcoming smile not exactly directed to me because she is busy telling a client about her interesting weekend, shows me the way to a nice room.

Nobody asks me to fill any paper, or any question at all. I am late but she obviously does not seem to mind at all.The very French and elegant living room is filled with brown old leather Chesterfields couches covered with fake furs, the walls in a Louis XV style Boiserie, Elle and Paris Match magazines on a modern glass table feature the last events of French president Sarkozy recent love entanglement with young supermodel and singer Carla Bruni.

Two French wrinkl-less ladies on their 40s impeccably dressed in Hermes Amazon-es, as they had left their horses at the door with the Doctor’s assistant, talk quietly without any sign of hurry, a young American couple ,also wrinkl-less, writes in great sign of concentration serious stuff certainly overseas on their small Blakberries.

Many hours have passed but Dr Sebagh charming and experienced Savoir-Faire, in his questions, and techniques of applying Botox and Restylane on my skin without making me feel any pain or doubt, overwhelm-es me. He then goes to the Internet and explains that I can buy his product line in New York right in front of my house, and can come to see him in a year if I wish to.

Younger in looks I arrive on a very cold January week-end in New York City. The light is dull. I am in a car among taxi cabs, I feel strange, I decide to isolate myself for a while until I figure out the jet lag, the fade light, the temperature and the difference in my Bio-rhythm altogether.

I realize I am a result of my own global freedom and still feel unhappily trapped by it . What do I need more? The traits in my face look more relaxed than ever, my skin feels as the skin of a baby, but an empty space locked within my self still reacts against an external and momentarily unrecognized environment that I sometimes I even call home. I am probably still a powerless human. I decide to go to the movies by myself for a small change, and watch the new Julian Schnabel” Diving bell and the Butterfly” playing on a Third avenue cinema near my house.

Jean-Dominique Bauby was the victim of a stroke that left his mind and one eye functioning . He gradually ‘’surfaced” into a new existence as a victim of ”locked-in syndrome“, mentally alert but deprived of movement and speech. This was enough to enable him to dictate ” The Diving Suit and the Butterfly” to Claude Mendibil before dying of heart failure. He achieved it by moving his left eyelid in response to an alphabet rearranged according to the letters frequency of use.

The The diving bell of Bauby’s title is his corporeal trap, the butterfly his imagination; the author cultivates strong feelings, especially anger, to keep his spirit from atrophying along with his limbs. On my way out I buy his book from Berck-sur-Mer. While reading it at candlelight I realize it is best experienced by remaining mindful of having the luck to be reading it between the many blinks of one’s eyes.

Reading Bauby’s words during this uncomfortable landing in the city made me understand astonished and finally humbled, that the refusal of one spirit to accept death as an end is what’s necessary . It’s the conviction of a transformation process into a new beginning, a rebirth, aiming at life more than ever in the fullness of its present moment and in the part of the self that resides in the creative mind.

I also realized that I have the potential of being anywhere I want to be, without really having to move from where I am at the present moment as long as I ma present. Most important of all, is the forgotten appreciation of what I always find waiting for me, untouched, every time I come back.

I always come back to the wisdom of Kabbalah dealing with the inevitability of one’s immortal experience and the all night connection to the harvest and eternal life through the Jewish holiday of Shavuot.

My feelings of confinement is gone.. My hands are quicky typing on my Mac many stories about my last trips in Prague, In Naples, In Rio. Many people would like to share the experiences. Here I am.

Ah… By the way, I heard Barney’s is having a promotion on that Sebagh’s “For your eyes only ” cream on Monday. I will check it out,it’s right off the corner from home!

This post is dedicated to my good friend Ana Abdul from Brazil whose professional and personal dedication to style, a youth and excellence is time-less and unique. May this post be for her an ode to life!

Joelle’s Picks:

The ‘ Guru ‘ Doctor :Dr SebaghHead Office : Cosmetic Doctor At Work Ltd25 Wimpole StreetLondonW1G 8GL

Tel : +44 (0)20 7637 054 / Fax :+44 (0)20 7637 5110

Paris Office:64, rue de Longchamps 75116 Paris / Tel 01 47 04 65 75 / Fax 01 45 53 45 18

The Skin Products:

” First Experience Kit 6 Trial Sizes by Dr. Sebagh” A good and economic suggestion to try all the line at once as a starter. Absolutely amazing and revolutionary having enzymes and pure vitamin C instant powder over your skin, It’s like having a fresh squeezed organic orange juice through your cells Try it. You’ll love it. I have included a link where you can buy it on line below .Please give me your feed-backs.

Botox in Usa: www. mybotoxsecret.com / dr Hedaya
Ocean County Office – One Route 70 Lakewood, NJ. 08701
Ph: 732-901-6111 Fx: 732-905-0611

The Movie: Diving bell and the Butterfly

Chanel is continuing to be inspired by the glamour of the movies to promote their products.

After having campaigned for Rouge Allure with a film inspired by Le Mépris by Godard, they were sent special and gorgeous invitations around to preview their Coco Mademoiselle site and film last September.

After several legendary beauties were hired by Chanel to front their perfume advertisements over the course of years such as Catherine Deneuve, Carole Bouquet, Nicole Kidman, and more recently Kate Moss, Chanel artistic director, for over 40 years, Jaques Helleu (who sadly died this week) picked the British actress and Academy Award nominee Keira Knightely to add a new role on her resumé as the star and new face of the advertising campaign for Chanel’s Co whoco Mademoiselle fragrance.

“Being the face of a Chanel campaign is like winning an Oscar!”says the 22-year-old, who replaces fellow British Kate Moss as the scent’s muse. “It’s so amazing to be welcomed into a couture house that has such a rich history and where, at the same time, you feel the pulse of creativity, energy and modernism.

According to Jacques Helleu artistic director of Chanel for more than 40 years, (he sadly passed away last September 28) who was prompted more than anything else to elect Knightly were her flaws, which presented him with an opportunity to play fairy god-mother to Cinderella. The new advert where Keira Knightly poses naked, chastely clasping a bowler hat over her breasts closely references the theme of one of the adverts that was shot with Kate Moss, Keira’s immediate predecessor. ” We could start calling them the girl-with-the-necklace-and-hat series ” says Marie-Hélène Wagner from the Scented Salamander blog.

One is first literally led by the hand by an invisible guide for a virtual tour of Gabrielle Chanel’s daytime apartment (she really lived at the Ritz). You start by climbing the famous Chanel mirrored staircase up into her den, located 31, rue Cambon.

The visit aims to be realistic, complete with the sound of muffled footsteps in the thick carpet and crackling fire burning in the fireplace. You are even invited to look up-close at certain objects like the Coromandel screens and antique crystal chandeliers, almost as if your nose were touching them.

Then there is the film Coco Mademoiselle by director Joe Wright with Keira Knightly. She enters the apartment from the window dressed in a white men’s shirt and bowler hat and then cheekily throws her hat on a console, undresses, and chooses a dress while making a pout of indecision. She also chooses here jewelry and whimsically tries her necklace on her foot first etc. then meets her beau, kisses, and slyly dab his neck with Coco Mademoiselle etc. The movie ends on Keira Knightly walking in the streets of Paris at night and on a big visual of Coco Mademoiselle….It is a big production for a short movie.

The music used is the song L.O.V.E. sung by Joss Stone.

Finally, one can take a good look in the picture gallery at behind-the-scene features and the making-of the movie. For example, they had to recreate the setting for the apartment rather than shoot the ad there.

Joelle’s Picks:

Sources: Keira Knightly for Chanel Mademoiselle Coco , Marie-Hélène Wagner for the Scented Salamander blog.

The Book:

Louis Vuitton is primarily a leather goods brand and ready-to-wear Show Spring Summer 2008 in Paris showed that.

Twigger from the Purse blog posts: “The color palette was beautiful and vibrant, full of blues, yellows, watermelon pinks, and so much more. However, Marc Jacobs decided to throw them all on one bag! Bags with 3 or more colors, plus different colored handles”. An interesting twist on the bags was somewhat psychedelic monogram patterns, as well as turning many of the iconic bags into frame bags with little tags hanging that stated their name (i.e. papillon, speedy, and alma). There is an adorable, if too saccharine sweet, quilted bag in yellow, pink and mint green made of an interesting and smartly done mix of satin, cloth, canvas and patent. There are patent (or PVC?) bags that look like production mistakes with bleeding, double stamped and spray painted prints. A few ostrich bags were shown.

Others had handbag names cheekily printed on tags or the bags themselves. Quirky bags include cartoon prints on velvet and what appears to be calf hair. And then there is the collaboration with artist Richard Prince, whose spray paintings and text appeared on the snakeskin trimmed bags carried by supermodel Stephanie Seymour .There are also bags with ‘Louis Vuitton’ spelled out all over the bag (Think last season’s Marc Jacobs bags that did the same). This season is definitely not for the faint-hearted, or for someone looking for a classic piece to carry for years.

I am intrigued enough to wonder what bags will actually make it into production. ” She is right. Morover I would like to know what creative director Marc Jacob caused the change from timeless classic beije and brown colors to technicolor? I personally love it.

By the way, only the glamazon supermodels of the 1990s can bring realism to the sexy nurses that opened for the Louis Vuitton runway show in Paris. Check the gallery, can you spot Stephanie Seymour, Eva Herzigova, Nadja Auermann, and Naomi Campbell?

Joelle’e Picks:

Sources: Style.com , Perre Verdi Shopdiary

The video of the show: http://vuitton.com/web/flash/index.jsp;jsessionid=V3AVW2KNSXKEYCRBXUDVAFYKEG4RAUPU?buy=0&langue=en_GB