I'm chortling to myself at the ways bloggers are suddenly figuring into the Paris Fashion Week schedule. We've seen the blogger breakfast/brunches pervade social media strategies of brands but never did I think I'd be popping along to one during Paris Fashion Week. At Dior of all places. Yesterday morning, just before Chanel, for the first time Dior held a bloggers-only resee event at their Avenue Montaigne showroom - a chance for bloggers to resee the A/W 13-4 collection and to get some face-to-face time with the people that matter chez Dior. I found myself speaking to Sidney Toledano, the president and CEO of Christian Dior as we waxed lyrical about Raf Simons and mused that to go forward, you must look back. Munching on croissants, shooting the breeze with CEO's and snapping away at clothes - a strange turn of events when I think that not so long ago, I'd be emailing French PRs and getting the agonising non-reply or a flat-out blunt "Non." I'll be covering the collection in-depth later on but for now, here's a pic of a recreated show set with a mannequin for bloggers to style them up as we see fit or pose alongside in the appropriate manner. Those Rene Magritte-esque clouds certainly weren't the most surreal thing in the room, that's for sure.
In the evening, Maison Michel (hats, bunny ears, headbands, cool girls, IT girls, naughty girls - you get the drift) also had their blogger's event. Complete with champagne, cakes and tea and of course trying on the new collection. Not sure if it's a Maison Michel first but it's certainly a far cry from when I got yelled at for taking pictures in a Maison Michel showroom a few years back. Suddenly, it's all "What can I do for you?" Remembering how it was back in the day mean it's easier to take it all with a pinch of salt, or in this case - a pair of lacy bunny ears. Grandma blogging observations aside, the collection is as ever alluring, coquettish and undeniably pretty. You've got speckled, dotty and spray-painted hats, sometimes with leather brims, sometimes with chains. The headbands get the rose-gold treatment and the plastic teddy bear eared caps get rained on with silicone droplets. All good stuff for bulbous-headed folk like myself. Maison Michel's designs have the tendency to get ripped off fast and in a poor manner and of course bloggers have done their DIY versions in the past. It's most likely to be a "If you can't beat em', join em'" approach. Show us the real thing and then comes the open dialogue. Times-a-changing indeed.
