As you walk through an ancient cavernous space with a subtle glow, enigmatic messages are delivered without a word. The walls are imbued with hints of the unknown. A pop of fresh blooms, a wash of nude light on delicate concrete, textured panels of sheen. The lights arise and the drama takes its place, creations in every color palette layered in textures and motifs to surprise. Sweeping silhouettes of reworked patterns borrowed from the menswear repertoire. Uneven notes struck in hemlines, bags in tow and shoes that have the feel of the exotic.
Paris is a centuries old stomping ground for the ingénue or worn soul alike to find solace and to seek that ever so elusive dream of inspiration. Artists, writers and designers haunt the streets, the gardens and the city lights themselves to find it lingering. They jot it down feverishly in notebooks, sketchbooks and visions to take back to hidden places to construct and create.
Paris Fashion Week pushes the sky away for designers to unveil the culmination of their inspiration in the living and breathing form. They employ historical spaces to help tell their story. They use light and sound to submerge their audience in the true nature of their work. Muses march down the runway giving life, form and movement - the true translation of what is intended.
‘I am consumed by a desire to paint the woman who appeared to me so rarely and who so quickly fled, like a beautiful regretted thing the voyager leaves behind as he is carried away into the night.’ -Charles Baudelaire, Paris Spleen
Jill Donnelly, Owner/Buyer of Baby & Company, set out to Paris to find the garments and wares to stock in the the coming season. She believes the authenticity of Paris is found as equally in the daily activities of the streets as it is in the awe inspiring designer collections set forth. She noted the ever present weight of black and its opposite white but was equally moved by the standout personalities wearing bold colors as it communicated the modern energy of the moment.
The streets inform the lines and the lines lend their narrative pull to the streets. Stacks tied of today’s news, brown packages of tomorrow’s bread and inhabitants practical moves innocently deliver inspiration. Bold bohemians with slightly undone details or strong warriors at ease in the alleyways. Bodies accompany their shadows and inspiration follows them on their way. - Brit Parks
