2/ Candelaria for Mexican food and exquisite cocktails.

3/ Aux 2 Amis for quick snack in a crowded full of live nice place.

4/ Lao Siam for delicious Thai food in rue du Belleville, full of Asian yummy restaurants.

5/ Pho 14 : the best bobun (Vietnamese delicacy) I had.  Try also the Foyer Vietnamien if you like Vietnamese food.

6/ Le Palais de Tokyo for a drink or food in a contemporary art museum. The terrasse is a great place also to admire skateboarders.

7/ Le Glass in Pigalle for a good coktail and a nice hot dog.

8/ Le Floréal, very beautiful place and very nice food.

9/ Mama Shelter, crowded and quite expensive but nice decoration by Starck with a unique atmosphere.

10/ Le Progrès for typical cool bistrot / café in Paris full of people from the fashion industry.

11/ La Fidélité, beautiful good brasserie + sometimes they open their basement for parties, check it !

12/ Le Mansart, place to meet creative people, musicians and have a baby foot and drinks outside. It's a funny brasserie where you'll always end up talking to someone unexpected.

13/ Maria Luisa, very refined pizza in a quiet place, behind the river. Cool quiet and tasty experience.

14/ La Bocca, very fresh a refined Italian foods in a peaceful street. The place is beautiful and you can eat outside. It's close to rue Montorgueil where you'll end up having a drink after if you like crowdy atmospheres or not too far from clubs like Silencio or Rex..

15/ Le Café du Marché. It's not expensive, it's a super nice brasserie in a nice pedestrian street of the 7th district. I recommand the chicken tikka salad with the coco tart. And some wine !

And to finish with some cute places :

Jacquemus - Winter 14

Vivienne Westwood SS15

LA FEMME ENFANT / JACQUEMUS from jacquemus on Vimeo.

 

In 1910s in Paris, there was no such designer as Paul Poiret to sense and shape the women's desires. In a few decades, he established the standards of modern fashion through both technical and marketing innovations. He is also one of the first to have analysed cycles in fashion, trying to anticipate them in a rational way.

One of his most famous observation is known as "La loi de Poiret". This law states that all fashion ends in excess. Once a trend reaches its borders (physical limits in fashion), it ends giving birth to a new opposite trends. Paul Poiret used the example of hats furnished by ornaments. At one point, they were so furnished that the only possible next step was to cut all the ornaments down. 

Women & their hats in the Roaring 20es

You will ask me why new trends have to emerge then ? Why can't we stay we furnished hats ? One of the reason is that trends are generated by people looking to single them out. As soon as the masses start to copy their style, they need to have a new one. One word to explain this move : differenciation.

Today, La loi de Poiret can be challenged with technical improvements that will soon destroy the physical limits in fashion. With 3D printing, the possibilities are becoming limitless. Also, new icons' and their obsession of endless fashion provocation have destroyed the borders of manners and aesthetics. Miley Cyrus rocking naked with Dr. Martens a Wrecking Ball is not anecdotal. First, she is not the first nor the only star behaving in such a way. Secondly, she has a huge worldwide visibility. Last but not least, she collaborates with some popular designers who participate in shaping trends. 

Through social media, her different performances always have global reach, having an impact on the viewers' decency towards nudity and provocative attitude more generally. It's also a signal for designers and trend makers that customers won't be "too offended" if the upcoming seasons are more provocative. I'm pretty sure Paul Poiret had not anticipated the end of limits and this evolution of womenswear.

Juergen Teller for Marc Jacobs - AW12

First time I've looked at Marc Jacobs's collections, I didn't even notice the clothes. I was stunned by the realistic bluntness of the image, a surprise "real-life" different from all the fussy sexy standards of fashion shoots. Models seemed vulnerable, fragile and drawn in their deep considerations. The photo was not about the collection, the focus was rather on the emotion emerging from the characters.

He has been shooting for many other brands than Marc Jacobs. Recently, he has worked for Barneys, Louis Vuitton, Moschino or Céline. When I look at these shoots, I'm not seing the brands' DNA. I'm seeing Juergen Teller's DNA. And because I've discovered him via Marc Jacobs, I'm also thinking Marc Jacobs. This is the strength and the limits of his work. 

Of course, the images are strong and you notice them. But they are not specific to the brands. Not telling its message or enlighting its unique positionning. May be it's a new way to communicate ? Consumers being saturated with messages and images are bored by brands who assert themselves non-stop. On the contrary, they may be grateful to Louis Vuitton and Céline (among others) to provide them with some true beauty free of ego-brand-statement. Also note that supporting artists and respecting their freedom is historically peculiar to luxury brands. Working with Juergen Teller might be a good way to claim this exception. The issue is that luxury is also synonymous with avant-garde and singularity. Not sure Juergen Teller is still rare.

"A Trip or a Voyage" Louis Vuitton Cruise 2015 collection

Photography by Steven Miesel and film direction by DJA.

Erich Heckel - Fränzi Reclining (1910)

1/ the playful pure yet determined girl from Hedi Slimane for Saint Laurent. Her playground is a NY loft. She didn't want to go to school and feels like dancing alone. She is elegant, soft and full of grace and her heart belongs to daddy like Charlotte Gainsbourg in "Charlotte Forever". 

3/ the beautiful inacessible girl from a fairy tale. The one that you can only dream about. Quite self-absorb and too conscious about her charms. See Candy from Prada inspired by Jeanne Moreau in the movie Jules and Jim.

4/ the wild doll, funny and charming, lively and smiling to life. She sees the world through her innocent playful eyes and refuses to be tamed. She is sophisticatedly natural, such as the intemporal Brigitte Bardot from a Nouvelle Vague movie. She is "iconic" in Dior Addict, inspired by the movie "Et Dieu créa la femme".

5/ the little girl playing the mature woman. She might be considered as a sex object and is too innocent, fragile or naughty (can we be naughty before 18 ?) to handle it. It's the old disturbing story of Lolita from Nabokov that inspired the campaign "Oh, Lola!" with 17 Dakota Fanning which has been banned in the UK or the movie Lolita by Kubrick. Reminds me also of Vanessa Paradis singing Joe le Taxi..

After 10 years of litigation, LVMH and Google have just reached an agreement to fight hand in hand the sell of counterfeits online. This union between the French luxury group and the biggest search engine is a cornerstone in the protection of brands online. LVMH had already reached similar agreements with E-bay, Yahoo! Japan en 2009 et Rakuten Auction en 2010. 

The issue was simple : with the use of Google Adwords, companies selling illicit goods (such as couterfeits of Louis Vuitton bags) would come up in the search results at the same ranking as legal products. Unaware customers would then buy illegal products because of powerful google advertising. For the record, Louis Vuitton was one of the first brands to protect its creations with the specific Damier Canvas pattern and a logo "marque L.Vuitton déposée" (meaning registered trademark).

Similar agreement between France and the US can be found in 1923, with the creation of an anticopyist society by Madeleine Vionnet and other designers such as Paul Poiret or Jeanne Lanvin. The so-called Association pour la Défense des Arts Plastiques et Appliqués aimed at lobbying for international copyright laws. Madeleine Vionnet was a real pionner in protecting her brand. She has introduced fingerprinted labels to authenticate her models : each of her garment would be sign with her right thumb ! 

Olympic games were created in 776 BC in Greece to celebrate Zeus, father to the 12 Olympian gods on Mount Olympus. They would promote the Greek culture, religion but also set of values. They continued for 12 centuries until Emperor Theodosius decided to ban these "pagan cults". 

Many ancient representations of the games have survived, including paintings and sculptures.  They are a great inspiration today for artist. It's quite an interesting trend to observe in the fashion and creative campaigns too. Healthy becomes beautiful, brave becomes cool and Greek sculpture becomes must-have.

First time I notice this influence was in the clip by Geneva Jacuzzi "Love Caboose". A twist of Ancient Olympic Greece with modern 90es representations (see the TV) and blurry pink / purple / yellow pastels. Geneva Jacuzzi has collaborated a lot with Ariel Pink and is a nice L.A performer and visual artist you should really discover.


Same Greek olympian style, with the wonderful class of Sexy Yoga by Lily McMenamy for I-D magazine. The also added strong geometric shapes with a surrealistic approach. It's the first time I find sport sexy, the naked sculpture of athletic bodies might help.

The anniversary is the perfect opportunity to lead a strong communication strategy for the brand : Habitat will sell by the end of September some limited editions, including some pieces of furniture designed by the studio Mallet-Stevens. As a big fan of Mallet-Stevens work (just like most of the people interested in design and architecture) I'm glad to be able to afford soon I hope some of its iconic items via Habitat.

This operation is strongly positive as it re-affirms the DNA of the brand : make design accessible for all, celebrating innovation and creation. I feel it will also conquer a new audience, people like me who feels Habitat is too expensive for quite-basic items and would rather buy furniture in Conran Shop or on the flea market.

For those who don't know yet Mallet Stevens, just a few words and some pictures below of his tremendous work. I strongly advise you to have a look at his houses either by le Parc Montsouris or Impasse and rue Mallet Stevens in the 16th. Or at the Villa Noailles when you'll go to Hyères Festival. In case you don't (and you should if you are really interested in fashion), the Villa is featured in the longest movie by Man Ray, "Les Mystères du Château de Dé".

Mallet Stevens is a French designer and Architect that had a great influence on the French modern architecture. The metal framing and use of reinforced concrete is specific about his style. You can also recognize in his work the influence of Cubism and Art Deco.