Deanne writes...
Here’s something to
think about: Vogue Festival is quite
the oxymoron. Festivals normally hold that casual characteristic where every
sense of pretension is left at home and celebratory gimmicks play out under the
sky. But as I look across the hall of Southbank Centre filled with girls of
every fashion and form, of cameras, makeup, and merchandise, I hoped that it
could have been called a party instead.
That’s not to say
I’m complaining. I joined in on the party! I had my hair done with a wraparound
braid, taking inspiration from the runway girls at Valentino’s spring/summer
2011 show. And then my lips finally had a taste of designer lipstick as YSL’s
slid across mine. Ah, the luxury! The fashion! In a matter of minutes, I felt
like a different woman… Once again, fashion demonstrates its superpower to transform.
But the spotlight
shined ever so brightly on the speakers, the cognoscenti of the billion-dollar
industry. They weren’t there to talk about money though – oh god, no – because
if you are truly, madly in love with this art form, it’s the last thing on your
mind. The roster of speakers over the weekend was a lineup that could have not
been any better. And I must say, the fashion gods must really like me as I was
blessed with a free ticket to Alber Elbaz’s session.
I think what Elbaz
managed to do in that one hour was bring fashion back to our feet. Where it so
rightly belongs. I hate to admit it but fashion has that stereotype of being so
irrelevant, so exclusive, and so easy. But Elbaz is the antithesis to that,
which says so much as he is the creative director of Lanvin, one of Paris’ most
treasured houses.
Right from the
beginning, he strips away all forms of superiority. “I come from a humble
background. And I’m glad I did because you can fantasize when you come from a
small place,” he says. Having been born in Morocco and growing up in Israel,
countries thousands of miles away from the fashion capitals of the world, it’s
quite obvious that hard work was his path to the destination. “You know, you
can have connections or money but that only brings you to the door… Never to
the ceiling,” he says so poignantly.
And in a world
where everything has become a routine, he still wants to remain with the
premise that “fashion is all about fantasy… about taking a piece of fabric and
turning it into 3D.” Season after season, Elbaz never fails to deliver clothes
– beautiful clothes that spring from a dream to right in front of our eyes! –
that respect women. And when we women find a designer who does that, we save a soft spot in our hearts for them.
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| Fall 2011 RTW |
Elbaz keeps me in
awe with his designs but makes me laugh with his humanness, his authenticity
and warmth. “I am a walking contradiction! I fly first class but I like the
people in coach because they’re my kind of people; I eat in classy restaurants
when I just really want to go to McDonald’s,” he admits. I sit thoroughly
amazed of how someone who holds so much power can also hold so much modesty. I wonder
how he does that and then it’s as if he heard my question as he says, “I like
to create relationships. We often forget that we are an industry of people, not
machines.” There you have it: his driving force is connection. And if you think
about it, that’s what fashion has always been about: a connection between the
clothes and the wearer, the wearer and the designer, the designer and world.
And then that’s
when I realized the purpose of the Vogue
Festival: it was really a celebration of the significant value of fashion in
our world. For two days, under one roof, thousands of fashion aficionados
gathered together to deeply recognize this industry for its innate ability to
translate an emotion, a movement, a consciousness into something that we can
take with us everywhere.
Elbaz ties the
whole festival together with the idea for his autumn/winter 2013 collection: "I accessorized the lines with necklaces. I opened the show with a necklace that
said ‘Help’, because I like asking for help, and ended it with one that said ‘Love’,
because you know, it’s always nice to have some of that." Touché, Alber, touché.
Xx
Runway photos from Style.com
