Kiki de Montparnasse

The past week I've been sick in bed, which is not fun.  The upside was that I finally had the time to read the books that I had stockpiled for such an occasion (and watch the boyfriend scurry about getting me hot lemony drinks).

A new addition to the pile, which arrived on my doorstep this week, was the graphic biography of Kiki de Montparnasse, the model, muse, artist, actress, drug addict, cabaret singer, prototypical scenester and general inspiration to large-nosed women everywhere.  I'm starting to love the graphic biography genre, because it appeals to both the comic book nerd and the history nerd that hold an uneasy truce inside my brain.

This book, by Catel and Bousquet, is a joy to read.  For the first time in years, the minute I finished the book, I went back to the first page and started to read it again.  Here she is as she appeared in the book.

Illustration by Catel for Self-Made Hero

 And here's some real-life Kiki.

Kiki in Man Ray's 'Emak Bakia' (source)

 Kiki was Man Ray's long-standing muse until the arrival of Lee Miller.


Violon d'Ingres by Man Ray

Nu Couche a la Toile de Jouy by Tsuguharu Foujita

Kiki de Montparnasse by Pablo Gargulo

Kiki with Accordionist by Brassai

“All I need is an onion, a bit of bread, and a bottle of red; and I will always find somebody to offer me that.” - Alice Prin (Kiki de Montparnasse)

Distilled: Paris Fashion Week A/W '11

This is the last in the series.  Paris, following on from New York, London and Milan, is probably the most-hyped fashion week, with a record number of high-profile designers showing collections (and a lot of monotonous flicking through photographs on style.com for me).

Here are some Parisian picks, arranged by trend - I use the word 'trend' in the loosest possible terms, because I've just made most of them up.



all photos style.com



Row 1 - Anne Demeulemeester, Cacharel, Haider Ackerman

Row 2 - Chanel, Maison, Martin Margiela, Alexander McQueen

Row 3 - Jean Paul Gaultier, Miu Miu, Tsumori Chisato

Row 4 - Loewe, Louise Vuitton, Valentino

Row 5 - Carven, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Sonia Rykiel

Row 6 - Chloe, Christian Dior, Lanvin

YAY TRENDS

• Row 1 - Absolutes - Make outfit statements in one colour (or two) - emphasis is on texture and silhouette.
• Row 2 - Come together, fall apart - Deconstructed, zipped and ripped apart outfits.  I shouldn't love this because these are oriented towards the willowy of body, but I do anyway.
• Rpw 3 - Little old ladies - Pour talcum powder in your 'do, amp up the boxy silhouette and invest in a furry shopping trolley, as seen at Gaultier.
• Row 4 - Night porter - Leather trenches with very little little on underneath for the dominatrix vibe.  Christian Dior jokes optional.
• Row 5 - Plaid - pensive plaid at Carven, Playful plaid at Castelbajac and Sonia Rykiel - it's all good.
• Row 6 - Textures with pattern - wooly snakeskin at Chloe and flower print gazar fabric at Lanvin. 

NAY TRENDS

• None - though when it comes to Paris, I have rose-tinted specs.  Perhaps there was an overabundance of fur, but that seems to have been an overarching trend covering all four weeks.

What are your PFW picks?