Living Le Rêve

"To be Parisian is not to be born in Paris, it is to be reborn there."

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 13:38:44 -0500

““To be Parisian is not to be born in Paris, it is to be reborn there.””

- Sacha Walckhoff, creative director of Christian Lacroix Homme

Versace Men’s A/W 2013-14 Fashion Show

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 12:53:00 -0500

Versace Men’s A/W 2013-14 Fashion Show

dacyknight: Backstage at Versace Men’s F/W 2013-14 Show -...

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 11:11:00 -0500

dacyknight:

Backstage at Versace Men’s F/W 2013-14 Show - Saturday January 12th

dacyknight: Instagram: Backstage at Versace Men’s S/S 2013-14

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 10:18:00 -0500

dacyknight:

Instagram: Backstage at Versace Men’s S/S 2013-14

dacyknight: Kacey vs. Dacy for Versace 2013

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 10:00:00 -0500

dacyknight:

Kacey vs. Dacy for Versace 2013

"New Year’s Resolution: Be selfish."

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 03:55:49 -0500

“New Year’s Resolution: Be selfish.”

Eau Chanel! by Dacy Knight

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 10:33:00 -0500

Eau Chanel!

by Dacy Knight

RER train in Paris decorated like Palais Versailles

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 09:15:05 -0500

RER train in Paris decorated like Palais Versailles

The Lumineers at The Trabendo in Paris, November 14th

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 09:10:00 -0500

Copyright © Dacy Knight 2012

Copyright © Dacy Knight 2012

Copyright © Dacy Knight 2012

Copyright © Dacy Knight 2012

Copyright © Dacy Knight 2012

Copyright © Dacy Knight 2012

Copyright © Dacy Knight 2012

Copyright © Dacy Knight 2012

The Lumineers at The Trabendo in Paris, November 14th

“Ho Hey” performed by The Lumineers at The Trabendo...

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 06:39:00 -0500

“Ho Hey” performed by The Lumineers at The Trabendo in Paris, November 14th

Louis Vuitton Names Journeys Awards Winners - WWD

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 05:42:00 -0500

Louis Vuitton Names Journeys Awards Winners - WWD

CHANEL N° 5 — Brad Pitt “There you are”...

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 05:19:00 -0500

CHANEL N° 5 — Brad Pitt “There you are” — Sketch Redo

Brad Pitt in new Chanel N° 5 ad

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 05:39:00 -0500

Brad Pitt in new Chanel N° 5 ad

Assouline Fetes New Pierre Cardin Book - WWD

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 16:05:44 -0400

Assouline Fetes New Pierre Cardin Book - WWD

Elie Saab S/S 2013 - Dash Magazine

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 16:01:00 -0400

The lights finally dimming in the large white tent of the Jardin des Tuileries signalled the approaching end of Paris Fashion Week. The last big name on the show schedule, Elie Saab, succeeded in delivering a sparkling display of the label’s established genetic code while playing with youthful punchy accents.

The Lebanese designer opened his show with brights in bold block colors of royal blue, turquoise and raspberry pink. Minimalistic as they were, the monochromatic ensembles delivered drive: sleek modern and fitted bodices with grosgrain ribbon framing the feminine contour with clean geometry. Models were suited up in day looks for today’s woman, inspired by the show’s title “Heiress”. The show’s notes and selection of slick suits underscore that “there’s more to her than that: she’s an artist, a photographer, a blogger or a philanthropist.” Whatever her work, she certainly works it, bag in hand.

Despite the professional sensibilities of his opening pieces, Saab still lets loose for Spring. Unexpected Technicolor splashes punctuated the established colour palette, vivifying the runway with bespattered effects. Despite the audacious prints the pieces maintained elegance with fluid skirts and classic silhouettes.

The collection played with pairings of contrasting materials, balancing feminine frill with strong sexiness. The edginess of exposed skin was reined in by modest necklines and hemlines. Flowing fabrics were harnessed by clean lines and sharp angles. A V-shape, beginning just below the bust and narrowing down the torso, was quickly established as the mainstay of the collection. The distinct half-diamond reemerged as peekaboo lace on a full-length (and otherwise conservative) dress, as a high contrast bandage design on a Hervé Leger-esque number, and finally in a crisp all-white catsuit.

Sexy sharp as it was, the collection was strictly feminine. A flowing strapless evening dress the sole exception, every evening look came in at the natural female waist. Lace was generously distributed throughout sequined fairytale looks, made modern with intermittent interruptions of horizontal grosgrain bands and sheer mesh. The collection delivered clean-cut, confident, no-fuss glamour, and, as always expected of Saab, a generous assortment of red carpet-ready looks.

Published in Dash Magazine, October 24, 2012.

Written by Dacy Knight, Photography by Marshall Lewis, staff Photographer at the7eme.com.

Fin de Siècle Fashion at the Musée d'Orsay

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 17:31:00 -0400

The Musée d’Orsay’s latest exhibition, “Impressionism and Fashion,” opened September 25^th and runs through January 20^th of 2013. The museum, famous for housing the largest collection of Impressionist masterpieces in the world, collaborated with New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago to jointly curate an extensive exhibition that explores how fashion was captured during the artistic movement of the Belle Époque, providing a fresh perspective to the period’s works.

The exhibition begins with two 1874 prints of Publicité de costume des Grands Magasins du Louvre and the front page of Le Figaro dating March 3^rd, 1984, announcing the debut of Parisian department store Printemps. The scene is set and the understated opening barely hints at the expansive exhibition beyond.

The first room, themed “The Phenomenon of Fashion,” centers around two jackets and twelve dresses ordered chronologically from 1860 to 1879. Crinoline skirts and cotton mousseline are the staples as layers emerge and the bustle takes shape over the passing of two decades. The last dress, a violet striped and polka-dotted number worn by the wife of French artist Albert Bartholomé, is displayed beside the portrait titled “Dans la serre” (1881) in which it appears. Specialist fashion magazines, including Le Mode Illustré, depict the trends of time. It is revealed that two such illustrations inspired Cézanne’s “Les Deux Soeurs” and “La Promenade” (1871). Among the prints are vintage escarpins with heels no higher than a half-inch and the first bottles of French perfume house Guerlain.

The second and fourth rooms set the stage for a fashion show in ceiling-to-floor red, lined on each side with two rows of gold painted chairs with red velvet cushions and handwritten names of the figureheads of society at the Fin de Siècle. Center of attention are large Manets, each reflected in the oversized mirrors facing them and each reflecting the notable fashions of the time. The exhibition pairs its extensive collection of remarkably maintained dresses with the works that translate their cloth to canvas, capturing their sartorial essence in oil paint. We see near replicas of the detailed black dresses of Manet’s “La Parisienne” (1875) and Renoir’s “Portrait de Madame Charpentier et de ses enfants” (1878).

The space titled “See and be seen” is a demonstration in how eveningwear differentiated depending on the occasion. Tulle, tarlatan, ribbons, lace flounces, ruching, and ruffles come alive in dynamic paintings set at the circus and the opera. “In Private” reveals various boudoir pieces that are cleverly laid out in front of Henri Gervex’s controversial “Rolla” (1878), which depicts a naked woman sprawled across a bed, her dress and undergarments strewn on the floor and chair beside her. Next, a room occupied almost entirely by a glass case full of hats, in velvet and straw, with ribbons or flowers, displays Degas’ renderings of the headwear of the time.

As its second to last theme, the exhibition tackles menswear with a dramatically more subdued showcase of demure dark grays and blacks. While women of that era had dresses for various hours of the day, the men of the late 1800s really only had two options. One look for the day and another for evening. The section is much more stern than the fanciful fashion parade of the sections before, underscoring the opposing gender norms of the time.

The exhibition closes with a breath of fresh air, stepping out onto artificial grass turf into an open room of high ceilings and sky blue walls. “Enjoying the Open Air” presents large outdoor paintings, including Monet’s “Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe” and “Femmes au Jardin,” in the spacious setting while light summer dresses rotate slowly within glass cases. The airiness of summer comes to an end with the exhibition’s close and the grey, rainy “Rue de Paris, temps de pluie” by Caillebotte (1871).

September 25th through January 10th, 2013

(except Mondays and holidays)

Free for Students (Must show ID) Musée d’Orsay

Written for The7eme.com.

Paris Concept Store Fetes Opening - WWD

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 17:18:00 -0400

Paris Concept Store Fetes Opening - WWD

Hollywood's Paris on Exhibition at Hôtel de Ville

Sun, 14 Oct 2012 05:05:00 -0400

On September 19, Hôtel de Ville unveiled its latest exhibition, “Paris, vu par Hollywood” (or “Paris, viewed by Hollywood”) which runs until December 15. Through an examination of 100 films, the exhibition, curated by Antoine de Baecque, explores the fascination Hollywood has had with Paris from 1900 to today. Collected from French and American archives are nearly 400 varied documents, including costumes, posters, and movie stills. The exhibition moves more or less chronologically, beginning with the silent films of the early 1900s and ending with the 3D effects of today, examining the sophisticated Paris of romantic comedies, the peak of Can Can, and the Paris of action films in between.

Having amassed an expansive but unbalanced collection of various Hollywood relics, from a Givenchy dress of Audrey Hepburn to Mary Pickford’s lunch receipt from the Ritz, the exhibition comes across in a clumsy manner. The materials are interesting, but the way they are presented is haphazard. Rather than things or themes of importance receiving more attention, it seems that the exhibition highlights what it could get its hands on. For example, among “livrets de presse” (or press releases) of the 1920s, we are presented with no fewer than seven framed sketches of French pastry arrangements designed for the set of Sofia Coppola’s 2005 film “Marie Antoinette.” Another instance of imbalance is in the exhibition’s devoting twice as much space to showcase the objects of one single film, Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” as it does to explore the broad theme “The French Kiss,” focusing on a series of films with romantic sensibilities.

Other awkward moments are induced by the physical execution of the exhibition. On the main floor, where the majority of the exhibition takes place, the space is divided into a series of aisles much like a grocery store. But here they are significantly narrower and instead of browsing boxes of cereal the crowd is gathering in front of small framed papers (scripts, sketches, set models and so forth) with serious concentration. Furthermore, the aisles each end at the room’s wall, meaning their entrance and exit are one and the same. To make matters worse, a film roll of short clips from a handful of films is projected as a loop onto a screen in front of the same wall, resulting in onlookers clustering right at the aisles’ outlets. The result is serious congestion through the better part of the exhibit.

Looking past the exhibition’s awkward execution, there is a lot to be learned. The filmmaker Ernst Lubitsch, who set a dozen of his films in the French capital, albeit in studio remakes, once said “There is Paramount-Paris and MGM-Paris, and of course the real Paris. Paramount’s is the most Parisian of all.” The exhibition calls attention to the differences between the Paris of the streets and the Paris of the screen, simultaneously exposing the dreams and desires we place on the City of Light. We see the cityscapes that have become iconified around the world as well as the cultural assumptions that have become clichés, reappearing throughout the city’s cinematic history. With more patience or fewer people, the exhibition has much potential for enjoyment. It is definitely worthwhile to examine Hollywood’s love affair with Paris and see the diverse ways this fascination manifests itself.

September 19th through December 15th, 2012
Free
Hôtel de Ville

Written for The7eme.com.

Guerlain Unveils Art Exhibit - WWD

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:59:00 -0400

Guerlain Unveils Art Exhibit - WWD

Monochromatic Mixing at Peachoo+Krejberg S/S 2013

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 07:42:00 -0400

Designers Peachoo Datwani and Roy Krejberg can be counted on to deliver a calculated collection composed tightly around a theme, and it was no different for Spring/Summer 2013.

Peachoo+Krejberg’s latest collection achieved a workable fusion between edgy and classic, gothic and fantastical. Like ghosts of ancient battles, pallid-faced models introduced monochromatic pieces to a moody thumping bass that interchanged between exotic jungle beats and eerie crescendos. The designers, rooted in distinct cultures themselves, drew from a diverse gamut of inspirations. The result, however, is saved from schizophrenia due to well-exercised control and restraint.

For starters, Peachoo and Krejberg didn’t stray from their signature black and white. Grey was introduced, almost as an indulgence, providing some breathing room partway into the collection. From color to cut to cloth, the addition of each new element was executed with formulaic precision. Maintaining meticulous simplicity, the designers delivered variations on a theme with high contrast materials – gossamer, leather, sequins and lace. Juxtaposition was key to the execution, with pairings of sheer white sheaths caged in by black leather strap ribcages and heavily bejeweled vests. The Spartan aggression put forth by harder elements calling back to medieval armor balanced the overly fragile femininity and nearly tacky glitz.

Asymmetrical draping and racerback cuts fixed the collection as modern while sheaths of white lace doilies and 1920s flapperesque embellishments infused a vintage vibe. The collection’s constant was layers, and lots of them. They were executed in skewed geometric shapes and high contrast fabrics. Draped sheer prints, hung about in an evening dress manner, proved to be the weakest note brought to the collection’s composition. Otherwise, the mixing and remixing of fixed elements produced a coherent collection strictly adhering to the brand’s genetic code.

Long before the models organized themselves in the stark white room, the final looks on display in militant formation, the message of the collection was clear. The unlikely pairing between a glamorized militaristic motif and futuristic deconstruction made for an attractive demonstration in controlled experimentation. There was no climax, but instead a systematic presentation of variations on all possible combinations.

Designers Peachoo Datwani and Roy Krejberg founded their brand Peachoo+Krejberg in 2004, bringing together two contrasting cultures (Peachoo is of Indian origin and Krejberg is Danish) into a bold but controlled remix of a fine-tuned modern aesthetic. Peachoo gained experience with design at a French womenswear company after moving to Paris in the ‘80s. Krejberg studied at the Danish Academy of Fashion and Design before working on the menswear collections for the house of Kenzo. After Kenzo Takada’s departure Krejberg became Kenzo Homme’s creative director until 2003.

All photos by Marshall Lewis for The7eme.

Written for The7eme.com.