Axial Living

Sure there are people who travel between, say, Paris and Cairo. New York and London. But then there are those who travel between neighborhoods: the Marais and Zamalek or the Upper East Side and Mayfair.

Whether it's a pied-a-terre or a boutique hotel, the idea is right: axial living.

Axial living is the ability to live between places/spaces in a modern nomadic fashion. Advanced axial lixing creates geopolitical shapes like triangles (London, Rome and Vienna).

Axial living isn't new. Francois Ier was an expert. Louis XIV doesn't count; he had to deal with the Fronde. 19th-century Russian nobles were masters at axial living - how else were they able to manage a post-Romanov world?

Create your own axis, if only in your imagination. Keep up to date with what's new in your chosen metropoles. Watch how your view of the world develops.

Greek Beauty

It's no secret that the standards of beauty are relative to location, culture, and time. But what is amazing is this almost unbroken legacy of beauty and fashion the world seems to have. We know what the Ancient Greeks wore. We know what court dress during the Han Dynasty was like. Though we know what ancient and more recent periods wore, sometimes I wish we had more examples of the following:

a) Clothing from Dynasty XII (Ancient Egypt)
b) Gym gear from Flavian Rome
c) Renaissance hosiery
d) Clothing from the first caliphates

For all of the changes and differences in adornment, the impulse to decorate the human figure remains timeless.

Soldes!

 

There are those who'd rather avoid "the big guys" in favor of Colette and other concept boutiques. But there is something about Les Grands Magasins, particularly during sales periods, that no amount of conceptual editing or select customers can replicate. It's when Printemps is crazy busy with everyone buying that I notice if people are buying "more of the same" or "the new". It's not yet June, but it's time to at least get the List ready. More on the List later.

For now, here is Printemps on a quiet Sunday.

Cairofashion

This is merely a quick sketch of what one can see off Tahrir Square in Cairo. While Paris, New York, and Milan are the undisputed centers of current fashion, other places in the world offer a different perspective.

Perhaps we'll see Barcelona, Istanbul and Toronto as the next new wave of fashion capitals. Maybe Rome will return (whatever happened to that thing once known as Alta Moda?)- who knows? That's the thing when one begins to sense 5 years in advance - possibilities can open up that before may have been impossible.

Balenciaga at Didier Ludot

In 2006, I was walking by Didier Ludot, a couture specialist boutique in the Palais Royal, and saw a dress out in the loggia. It's not everyday that one comes face to face with vintage Balenciaga.

Though these dresses reflect a fashion that is pre-1968 (oh, that 40th anniversary again!), there is a mastery and commitment to perfection that remains unsurpassed.

If only the models could have held a numbered card, as live models once did while showing clothes to clients.

Color Study

 

In some places, the colors that abound can appear magical. It's not really the colors so much as the light of the region. Every place on earth has its particular kind of light at certain times of the day (or night). What colors surround you?

Printemps-Ete 2208

It is, of course, too early to say with any confidence that Paris will continue to have its annual seasons for showing new clothes 200 years from now. But some things will never change:

1. The color of the season. Even if we are wearing only white in 2208, surely there will be the nuance of hue from which we can differentiate. Iceberg white? Eggshell? Or simply "Avalanche"?

2. A "new" silhouette. Perhaps the "New Look" of Dior will make its reappearance. Perhaps the pleated linen of Ancient Egypt, softly surrounding the body. However velvet skirts with metal bustiers never seem to be out of fashion.

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As you may know, this is the 40th anniversary of the Paris Riots of 1968. Curiously for fashion (in Paris, at least), the protests were the last fashion expression of the 1960s and the first indicator of the 1970s. And the only one who successfully bridged that Chasm of May was Yves Saint Laurent. M. Saint Laurent had a knack for seeking the eternal within the moment. Just a reminder for those who will design 200 years from now.