Francophilia: BOW BOW BOW!!!

Tomorrow sees the start of the SS10 Haute Couture week in, where else, Paris, and I'm really looking forward to checking out the images from Alexis Mabille's show. Sure, it's always a trip seeing what John Galliano will do at a Dior couture show but here's the truth: lately, it's Michael Howells' sets that have been getting my applause (yes, I do applaud images on my laptop screen!) and I can't wait to see what otherworldly fantasy scene he creates again.

Quick Michael Howells story. One day during my SHOWstudio internship, a few years back, I had to deliver an audio recorder to his Absolute Highness Sir (c'mon Lizzy, he has to get one soon) Nick Knight on a Vogue shoot and while waiting by the set a lovely, and very tall, man said hello and introduced himself as Michael. He then went on to chat to someone else about the sets he was designing for Nanny McPhee and Major Ignoramus Me did not as much blink until I returned to the studio and had the Loveliness that is Penny Martin enlighten me as to who Michael was. You live and learn, my friends. You just do and feel all the better for it!

Images by Alexis Mabille.

BOW BOW BOW!!!

Valentino tee at Net-a-Porter.

BOW BOW BOW!!!

Erin Fetherston SS10.

Image by Style.com

BOW BOW BOW!!!

New York Fashion Week's New Star, Prabal Gurung.

Image by Style.com

BOW BOW BOW!!!

If you value your sanity, and wallet, do NOT under any circumstances type the small but lethal word 'bow' in Net-a-Porter's search engine. On the other hand, if you, like me, regularly enjoy torturing yourselves over goodies on Ms Massenet's Magical Emporium de la mode just do it. Warning: these sublime Tabitha Simmons wedges have now been imprinted in my brain since last week!

Image by Net-a-Porter.com.

BOW BOW BOW!!!

With all that Chanel in mind, my attention started shifting to one of Mademoiselle's contemporaries (not rival, as if the world could not handle two powerful women at once and they had to pull each other's hair off!), Elsa Sciaparelli. But away from Shocking Pink and the Lobster Dress, what really grabbed my attention were these two knitted sweaters and the story behind them.

According to the notes of the 2003 'Shocking!' exhibition by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in the spring of 1927, Elsa noticed a woman in Paris wearing a sweater that unlike most others of the time, had a "steady look", as Schiap later described it, and didn't seem to stretch. Sciap discovered that the sweater had been knitted by an Armenian woman using a special double layered stitch and recruited her to knit several prototypes for her. She drew a white bow to look like a scarf tied around the neck of one and wore the sweater to a luncheon that included several leaders of the fashion world where a buyer from Lord & Taylor ordered 40 copies on the spot. For many, it was the bow-knot sweater that secured her fame!

Images by The Philadelphia Museum of Art.

BOW BOW BOW!!!

Tom Ford Eyewear

Image by Tom Ford

BOW BOW BOW!!!

Alexis Mabille AW09 Couture show, Paris. 

Images by Style.com