Something to Declare

I won’t be going to Paris Fashion Week this season. It is extremely saddening. Life and its sometimes spirit crushing realities can be sobering. There are many who for some reason love viewing sports. For me, going to Paris is akin to what it must be like to watch the Super Bowl if you happen to be a football fan. Except with better clothes and food. 

When I pack my suitcase for Paris Fashion Week, I include the clothes I feel I can’t get away with in New York. Nothing is too colorful, too sheer or too long for Paris. Nothing is too cumbersome. If it fits into a garment bag, I say, “Allons-y!”

I adore watching who gets seated where and wondering how the famous and powerful never seem bothered by the blinding brightness from the flash of the 200+ cameras aimed at their faces. Sitting nearby as high-powered fashion editors burst into tears, overcome by the beauty before them (as they did at McQueen’s A/W 2006 “Widows of Culloden” collection and Yohji Yamamoto S/S 1999 “Wedding” collection), is certainly a sight to see.

A look from Alexander McQueen's iconic A/W 2006 'Widows of Culloden' collection. Photo by Erika Belle

Only Lee McQueen would place handmade lace atop reindeer antlers. From 'Widows of Culloden'. Photo by Erika Belle

There’s all sorts of entertainment. You might get to witness grand buffoonery such as John Galliano rolling down the staircase of the Paris Opera after showing his collection (he gave another performance, not so well received, but you all know about that). You also may witness the New York Times “On the Street” photographer Bill Cunningham completely ignoring a parade of French starlets at the Issey Miyake show, his attention focused instead on a young woman entering the show in a lavender velvet cape.

No matter which show you attend, the energy in the room is palpable. Everyone is there to witness something new. You find yourself squinting and saying things to yourself like “I wonder if Catherine Deneuve is going to the after-party too?” I don’t know about you, but it is rare for me to be in a room with Catherine Denueve when she is in the 3rd dimension.

A paused moment from Yohji Yamaoto's A/W 2007 collection. Photo by Erika Belle.

And now for the motorized twirling polka dot skirts at the Yohji Yamamoto show- A/W 2007. Photo by Erika Belle. 

You have to get used to the downtime before the shows begin. The waits can sometimes be long, but keep in mind that once the shows starts, they’re over in twenty minutes, max. And it’s worth it. When you see the clothes emerging, straight out if the gate, you really feel a connection. Fashion can very often seem frivolous, but to see it in a grand production does something to you. It changes your DNA. You may be merely looking at clothes, but if all the elements line up correctly, you get to witness and feel the energy of something truly wonderful being born. 

Fresh from the gate: A look emerging at the Yohji Yamamoto A/W 2011 show. Photo by Erika Belle. 

 Erika Belle after the Yohji Yamamoto show in Paris 2011.

Click here to see the complete Alexander McQueen 'Widows of Culloden' show.

Below: from Yohji Yamamoto's S/S 1999 'Wedding' show (video by FBK1976) 

‘Tis A Gift To Be Simple

I find that I can only truly be at ease within the confines of clean and spare spaces. I find peace of mind when surrounded by, well, almost nothing. And not only do I love empty spaces, I find that I’m rather fond of very simple shapes.

I wish I could live in squalor. It must be so relaxing to not care about colors matching or whether food hits the wall or the floor when you throw the remains of a meal bits toward the trash can. You and your lounging filth will live a long and unfettered life.

I also wish I had the gene that allows you to decorate an abode with abandon. Or the gene that allows one to easily choose a toothbrush. I have to first ask myself questions like, “can I really commit to this shade of orange for three months or will these bristles clash with the striation of color in my bathroom tiles?” I guess I’m pretty high strung. I do know this. I realize I’m a Paxil cocktail with a chaser of Valium situation waiting to happen.

I take comfort when surrounded with examples of basic Euclidian geometric forms. When I recently attempted to furnish my apartment I found it very difficult. It took me a few months to see that everything I purchased was based on a square, circle or rectangle. The Marcel Wanders couch that I was so proud of was, to the eye, a perfect gathering of rectangular planes. The spines of books in the shelves and the Pablo Pardo Cortina lamp: more rectangles. Plates and bowls: circles and spheres. The Warhol silkscreen: a perfect square. Perhaps I’m ready to take over the ‘shapes’ lesson for a kindergarten class.

It may not take a lot of imagination, but it takes a lot of fortitude to maintain this sort of tight aesthetic discipline. Don’t get me wrong, I love having my things about, I just don’t want to have to see them at all. I realize that it is wonderful to be able to have things, but one needs to be wealthy enough to hire architects to make your things disappear from sight.

I used to think that it would be great to own a castle and fill it with it with all kinds of art, fine furnishings and other Regency trappings. Now I know that if you are mega rich, you may own a copious amount of choice things, but they are never all on display. The wealthy showcase a beautifully encased and extremely enormous amount of void.

Any fool with money can purchase a real Louis VXI chair, but it takes some smarts to be able to hire an architect like Zaha Hadid or Carlos Zapata to design an amazing structure for you to live in so that your chair and all the other lovely things you own can disappear. 

 Thermoplastic molded room designed by Zaha Hadid for the Hotel Puerto America.

A view from Philip Johnson's Glass House with furniture by Mies Van der Rohe.

The kitchen in Klaus Biesenbach's apartment that was 'altered' by a visiting friend. Photo by Tony Cenicola-The New York Times.

Diggin’ Degen!

I met with the charming Lindsay Degen late last week. It was a couple of days before her first full ready-to-wear presentation was to take place. As we had a talk about everything under the sun I realized that, considering she was in preparation for her fashion show, she was rather calm. When asked about not having pre first collection jitters, she stated that “the show will be great and everything is under control”.

And it was. The Lindsay Degen F/W ’12 knitwear collection ASK TELL was held in the West Village on Wednesday, and the tone was set as models took the stage to the sound of the New York Dolls’ Personality Crisis.

One of the knitwear looks: Degen F/W '12. Makeup by Jessica Berndt for Lime Crime.

Lindsay (who studied at RISD and is a graduate of Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London) decided to call her collection Ask Tell as a celebration of the repeal of the Clinton-era military policy of Don’t ask, Don’t tell. She was inspired by imagery from the military, particularly the WWI Modernist artists that developed the patterns used for what we now recognize as camouflage. Lindsay used elements from these patterns to create multi-textural knit designs.

This season, Degen was a collaborative effort with a group of artisans, including a photographer, architect, milliner (Mischa Lampert), potter, jeweler, and cobbler (that’s right, there are knitted shoes!) Lindsay wanted to make sure this collaboration was fun, so she and her united team created something that combined a love of the DIY aesthetic with the coherence and execution of an established brand. 

The beautiful and talented Lindsay Degen. 

Two looks from the Degen collection inspired by WWI 'Dazzle Ships'.

Leggings and Camouflage platform sneakers.

Camo Hunters Hat, Porthole Tee, and Crocheted Nipples.

Sweater details and sneakers designed by Chris Coulthrust.

A hat by Mischa Lampert and a necklace by Katelin Gibbs.

Knitted shoes: A mirthful creation by Lindsay Degen and Chris Coulthrust.