2013-05-24T03:00:47-04:00 Imogen Roy http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=imogen-roy Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Imogen Roy Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.1135137 2011-12-09T19:00:00-05:00 2012-02-08T05:12:01-05:00

Imogen Roy http://www.huffingtonpost.com/imogen-roy/
From left to right, Christmas trees designed by Chanel ,Mathilde de l'Ecotais and Smalto.

For the past 16 years, the brightest names in the worlds of Parisian fashion, art and architecture have come together in December to each create a Christmas tree in their own aesthetic for Les Sapins Noël des Createurs (Christmas Trees of the Designers).

The brainchild of Marie-Christiane Marek, esteemed journalist and producer of fashion and design programs for television networks France2 and TV5 Monde, Les Sapins de Noël are exhibited to the public for the first week in December, with the exhibition closing with a private charity benefit dinner at which the one-of-a-kind trees are auctioned.


Ali Madhavi chose photography to represent his Christmas tree (left), while fashion designer Jean Claude Jitrois poses in front of his tree with his muse Sarah Marshall, designed in collaboration with NY contemporary artist JonOne .

Every year a different charity is chosen to benefit from the sale of the unique trees. For 2011, children's cancer charity A.V.E.C - Association pour la vie, espoir contre le cancer (Association for Life and Hope against Cancer) will receive the proceeds from the auction.

In the grand surroundings of the Hotel Salomon de Rothschild, 37 designers offered an immense variety of interpretations and materials in creating their Christmas trees. Men's fashion house Smalto chose a minimalist brushed-steel effect design formed of three two-dimensional shapes bolted together, while Sonia Rykiel's tree more resembled an apple tree than a pine.

Predictably, famed patisserie house Pierre Hermé's vision was a tower of macarons, while menswear label Les Garcons used stacked antlers festooned with baubles.


From left: Parisian lingerie designer Chantal Thomass applies her signature cheekiness to her design, while Stella McCartney's knitted tree is reassuringly traditional.

The prospect of owning a one-of-a-kind designer artwork by Jean-Paul Gaultier, Chanel, Jean Claude Jitrois or Dior has enormous appeal, and several 'trees' sold for as much as €5000.

The Pierre Hermé macarons may not be a long-lasting choice, but Stella McCartney's knitted tree or Louis Vuitton's 'jack-in-the-box' style are sure to be future classics for their proud owners. Furthermore, in an ever-increasingly environmentally conscious climate, the idea behind the investment in a designer sapin, to be celebrated year after year in lieu of a real cut tree, is a welcomed one.

From left: designs by Les Garcons and Sonia Rykiel

From left: Jean Claude Jitrois's tree in leather, in collaboration with JonOne, and Pierre Hermé's tower of patisserie delights.

ESMOD's tree was created from entirely sustainable materials.

Louis Vuitton]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.948483 2011-09-04T12:39:59-04:00 2011-11-04T05:12:01-04:00

Imogen Roy http://www.huffingtonpost.com/imogen-roy/
The obsession has been building for a while, and it is not uncommon for Parisian girls to hop on the Eurostar for a daytrip to that hallowed temple of all things 'London' - Topshop. Interestingly, Union Jacks are worn sportingly by Parisians on wallets, bags and suitcases (The Mini Cooper luggage range is a sellout here.) The September issue of Jalouse magazine, the bible of French branchitude (hipness), features several fashion stories dedicated to British models including Daphne Guinness's niece Mary Charteris, while other publications instruct on how to achieve 'le look des filles british' using Alexa Chung and Peaches Geldof as inspiration.

Now an exhibition at the high-end Parisian department store Le Bon Marché dedicates 1000 square metres to all things British. 'So London' offers Parisians the chance to view and buy the best of '100 %' British fashion, accessories, interior design, food, art and culture without having to cross the channel, and also features a retrospective of the life and music of Bryan Ferry. Liam Gallagher's line Pretty Green, Lucy in Disguise by Lily Allen and Sarah Owen and jewellry by Jade Jagger are among the fashion offerings marketed by Le Bon Marché as 'Made in UK'. Topshop's makeup range is also on sale, alongside photography from Britain's citizen celebration of this year's Royal Wedding by Martin Parr.

So London runs from the 27th August to the 15th October at Le Bon Marché, 24 rue de Sèvres, Paris 75007.
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Imogen Roy http://www.huffingtonpost.com/imogen-roy/
With every whisk of the photobooth curtain, Freja metamorphoses. Adopting multiple guises - from contrived doll-like figure in a blonde Marilyn wig and pink tights, to grinning but genial trickster in a black sequin evening jacket, mischievously dishevelled hair and a black mask adorned with interlocking Chanel 'C's, she is unpredictable, confident and alluring. In one shot, she appears crouching as a sleek black cat in leather gloves and whiskers - an unusual approach it would seem for the traditional French fashion brand, and yet that pose, that expression is still remarkably chic, still remarkably Chanel. Significantly, Freja as feline wears somewhat sensible, un-Carine-like black low-heeled shoes, and we know that the ever-practical Mademoiselle Coco Chanel is nodding with approval.



The photobooth used is undeniably similar to the one from the Chanel x Colette pop-up store on Rue St. Honoré over Paris fashion week this March, where I myself joined the key of mischievous Chanel fans of all ages eager to dive behind the curtain and pull kooky shapes in the hallowed name of Chanel. It represents fun, and perhaps also the fast-paced image-saturated nature of fashion today. Needless to say, the photobooth concept has clearly been on Chanel's radar for sometime, not to mention the fact that both photobooths and cats are extremely familiar and popular cultural references for the young asian market - one of Chanel's core fan groups.



The A/W campaign is a welcomed move from previous collaborations between Chanel and Freja, which were undoubtedly glamorous, but rather sterile. In the S/S 2011 campaign, Freja, rather in the shadow of male model Baptiste, leans on a garden bench looking into the distance distractedly. In these images however, Roitfeld has injected the brand with her signature taste for wit, dynamism and good-natured irreverance. Freja as the Chanel girl displays personality: she is mysterious in a mask and cat costume; she is sexy in the subtlest manner with a flash of sheer stocking; she is kooky in a funereal bridal get-up which more than hints at Lady Gaga. Roitfeld has taken the Chanel woman - visualised in youth but endowed with ageless, modern style - and brought out her playful side.



This is not Roitfeld's first independent venture - she has also styled the A/W campaign for Barney's New York - but to be entrusted by Karl Lagerfeld to conceptialise the brand's biggest campaign of the year is a sure sign that Roitfeld as a solo entity is incredibly valuable in the fashion industry, and is set to go from strength-to-strength.







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