Day 1:
Catching the night bus to Paris was ... eventful, to say the least. Sleeping on the bus was almost impossible but I enjoyed driving through belbium, which I have never been to, and seeing how dead it was, was actually surprising. But maybe during the day it is more lively.
So we arrived in Paris an hour early, and travelled to the area of where we were staying, where we sat for a coffee before collecting the keys to our apartment.
The apartment is very cosy, especially for 6 people, and now 7 because another girl moved into our apartment.
We met with one of our teachers who showed us the city, and took us to some stores around Paris which was interesting.
We also visited the Exhibition of Pharrell Williams which I really enjoyed, especially to see some work from my favourite Fine Artist TRACEY EMIN. It was just one piece, the words in luminous lighting saying "Wanting You". It was descreet, which is not so Emin, but I really like her work and it was nice to see it.
Another piece I especially enjoyed was this image- the artist has a sense of humour and uses it well:
Day 2:
COINCIDENCE- This concept is just.... AMAZING. The upstairs is restored african art that the couple have collected and restored and are selling. and the downstairs is Fashion. The guy works with the fashion, and the pieces are really interesting, but quite simple, and very wearable. They also have restored vintage designer clothing from Helmut Lang and some other designers.
BROKEN ARM- The newest concept store we visited. Very conceptual, young and chic. The store has so much energy, and sells almost everything to do with fashion, books, magazines, clothes, shoes, accessories and even has a coffee shop next door.
BLESS- Bless has a strange but interesting and inspiring concept. they design things they need or want which don't really have a purpose. For example their most famous piece is a hair which has real hair growing out of the brush, it is impossible to use as a brush and has absolutely no purpose at all, it's more of an ornament and something that none has.
I found this concept store really fun, and it made me realise that the more you concentrate on just fashion, the less creative you can be with your collections. They really concentrate on their art, and then their fashion comes, and it is just so much more experimental and fun, but still it is wearable.
Day 3:
We visited the Pompidou.. despite being afraid of heights, I really enjoyed the galleries. A few of the artists work I like were.....
The last one really inspired me, because of the collection I am doing at the moment, and I'm always really interested when people use human features in art work, it makes it so much more interesting. I'd like to use eyes within my collection, so this piece really inspired me. It was called, the never-ending face.
And then the others I like purely because I quite like trippy artwork. And of course the first one Jackson Pollock, because he is just amazing in every way shape and form. So neurotic but so controlled!! JUST LIKE ME <3
Day 4:
PALAIS DE TOKYO. The weirdest experience ever.. but the art was amazingly cool!! And there was a short fashion show, I think from a school. the clothing was made from matchsticks, it was really clever! I will upload photos when I have downloaded them all when I get home.
We also visited a store with a very different type of concept, the name is Créve Couer. The guy buys or collects or finds any type of clothing which has a meaning, so usually from other countries, from war etc. He then dyes the clothing with usually red, blue or black dye, and places ten at different locations around the world at different heights, anything from up in the sky to underground, and he sees hows the sun naturally bleaches the dye. The concept is very cool, however maybe for such a sustainable brand it would be nice to experiment with natural dyes. Though we did actually raise this question and he said that the natural dye takes much longer to fade away, so from this point of view I can understand why he doesn't use this natural dying process.
Day 5:
La Bon Marché and department stores. We had a few assignments and it was an average day. We learnt a lot about collections.
My most favourite garment i saw. MARCO DE VINCENZO.
We also drank under the Eiffel tower at night and it looked so pretty!!
Day 6:
Dries Van Noten exhibition. OH MY. HELLOOOOO!! Was amazing! I really thought he was like a dead and gone designer, but actually the fashion was so intricate and detailed it was amazing to see. There was a video about that he gave some caterpillars some gold and they made cocoons out of the gold, it was just so amazing to see something so delicate made from an insect which had been given these objects to make his natural cocoon out of.
The collections in the exhibition really inspired me and i think I will experiment with some ideas i have got since seeing this.
Day 7:
Standing outside the Valentino show praying there is a God to let us in.. of course we knew there was almost not a hope in hell to let us in, however we still clung to the hopeful words of the security guard "I don't think so", she said, after we asked if there would be space to possible squeeze us in at the back. However, we waited, and waited, watching the countless amount of famous people pouring in.
Nevertheless, the atmosphere was great and being surrounded by bloggers, other fashion students and press was an experience I really enjoyed.
Snaps from PARIS:
La Tour Eiffel.
The coolest bar!
Pretty church.
I loved her outfit. Exiting the Valentino show.
Maison Martin Margiela Menswear concept store.
Palais de Tokyo.
Vintage shopping.
Super cool pop up store!
Vintage purchases.
