The shoes in the Leelee Sobieski post where I confessed my adoration for Nicolas Ghesquière are, well… Balenciaga.

But also, when I got a closer look at her dress and could see the texture, the play on colors, the lace on wich the pattern is printed, the simple yet super elaborate cut, it reminded me that Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga doesn’t express his talent only on the extremely dramatic clothes you see on the runways.

He is also a genius of everyday clothes.

That said, I’m off now, I just realised it’s the sales in Paris! Arrrgh!!!

While I get adjusted to Cannes (its crowd, celebrities, photographers…) here is a picture of Gemma I took this week-end in Toulouse. I love the ease of her green jacket (from Zara) with her heavy sandals (Balenciaga). Kisses!

Huge balloons had been inflated in front of the Louis Vuitton tent…

In terms of city bags, there are a many schools of thought.
From the most comfortable to the almost impossible to wear :

1/

The backpack : It’s so ugly it’s beautiful, you wouldn’t understand.
The Epitome : That padded Chanel bag with two giant gold Cs, on loan from the 80s, they don’t make it anymore, which makes it even more trendy. (Personal note = Violaine, whenever you can send me that list of words that you are forbidden in your magazine, that’d be great. I think I’m gonna need it. And if you have any suggestions as to how to replace them, I’ll need those too.)

Ok, so in short… Practical, yes, but too trendy for me.
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The most important thing in life is learning to adapt. For a long time, I’ve managed to spend my nights during fashion week writing, but now, I’m going to have so many things to do in the next 10 days that the best I can do is write directly onto my phone between runway shows in order to take you with me on my days.

So this is… A super experimental post, something like Twitter, just not in real time!
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I think the first time I saw Tabitha, she was cracking up laughing. I fell for her right then and there. It was on a shoot where she was the stylist in the middle of winter. We all got snuggled up in nice warm clothes, wrapped up like eskimos, yet she had the little detail of a pair of killer Balenciaga boots that I practically screamed at from behind her.

Shoes are great ice-breakers for girls. You don’t know each other, and then suddenly you’ve got something to talk about for hours and hours. I’d bet some of the greatest friendships were born from a pair of pumps. And that’s how I learned that Tabitha was incredibly passionate about shoes and that she was almost ready to release her own collection.

The tension was killing me and I made her promise to keep me updated. And here’s the result:

I love people who go to the ends of their passion. A little like Anna with her amazing eyeglasses (that are crazily successful. I’m so happy for her!), everything started for Tabitha with some impulse and a dream. She released them without second guessing herself. No easy task, but I can’t even imagine the happiness that came when she first saw the results. And now she’s on her third collection.

I like that she keeps a more confidential and intimate side to her brand. When she presents her new collection, she does it at her own apartment… And I like that she always gives her shoes a name, and often it’s the names of her friends.

Grace Coddington? Sophie Dahl? Karen Elson? Oh yeah, sorry. Forgot to mention… Tabitha Simmons is fashion director for American Vogue. No biggie. I guess that would create quite a few connections. But at the same time, that could trap someone in a single role, have her put other creative endeavors aside. That sometimes happens when you’re in a high up position.

But to the contrary, with her shoes, she’s gone in a very personal direction. They’re non-conformist, daring, and sometimes go against trends.

So there you have it. I’m not going to spend hours upon hours telling you about how much I admire and adore her. It’ll start to get to be a little too much, and you can see for yourself just how irresistible she is in these photos. (Oh, and you will maybe see even more since Chris made another one of his videos.) But I just think it’s so cool how she made her own brand, not to get in her own way, to take risks, to create and reinvent. Yep, I think it’s so cool that I can’t help but gush all over the place and want to share every last little bit with you! Okay, I’m off! Big hugs!

PS: I’m going to be with Scott at his book signing in a bit, so if you’re in Madrid, come give us a hello! And if you know some amazing places that are not to be missed in Madrid or Barcelona, you gotta tell us!

Translation : Tim Sullivan

There I was, this last time at La Jolie Garde Robe, squealing while touching a vintage Balenciaga dress, and then squealing when I found a true Saint Laurent safari jacket… and then squealing again seeing the price.

I still decided to try them on, and then let out a huge squeal.

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