The tribe was in town. We came from the entire world, from London to Almaty, Los Angeles to Riga, Toronto, Milan, Nîmes or Shanghai to wrap up the circuit in Paris.

After New York, London and Milan, exhausted but still standing we fought the good fight against the cold and the lingering crisis to see, report, select, sell or buy FASHION.

The divine but O so painful looking Casadei pumps from the blogger ‘Man Repeller »

Far away from the glamour and the medias concentrated on the catwalks, the actresses, the models, ‘It-girls’ and other ‘fabulous’ people, the « real » business took places a bit further away from on-lookers in the tents, showrooms, trade shows and hotel rooms where one and all came to present, report on, buy and sell tomorrow’s fashion.

The new initiative of the Chambre Syndicale, under the guidance of Didier Grumbach and Patricia Lerat « Designers Appartment » presents the perfectly curated new French fashion blood.

A bad season and it is the economic future of the brand that is under threat. A good season and it is the assurance of presenting next season, a renewed confidence in one’s vision and the headache of producing that starts.  The uneasy tango between buyers and designers is under way. On one hand the buyers need fresh blood to stay competitive, and while they hate to ‘eat’ merchandise and need to be cautious, designers fear the unpaid invoice, the last minute discount blackmail or the boutique going bust.

If catwalks designers are fashion stars courted by the international buyers,  most designers are actually trying their utmost to seduce the buyers that are the real stars of the industry.  For the last few months, designers and buyers have inundated each other with emails, phone calls and appointment requests. The hot designers besieged by the stores, fashion director, buying offices and buyers showered with appointment requests.

Someone like Sarah Lerfel from Colette, Ikram Goldman, Armand Hadida or Julie Gilhart are on everyone’s appointment wish list and are drowned in emails from morning to night every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

And so the ritual goes.  Spread in a tight ‘the golden triangle’ between Tranoi, Premiere Classe, hôtel Meurice and the countless hotel rooms, international showrooms, and pop-up galleries, it slithers through from Tuileries to Marais and will finally wrap up a week later.

But while they are working hard and partying harder, they look good.

Globally no one dresses better than the Fashion pack.

Walking the endless miles of trade shows buyers from the world over are trekking in the highest heels, lugging the heaviest bags, fighting exhaustion and jet lag, yet hair and makeup are always impeccable (and creative).

The fashion tribe is not only the purveyor of luxury goods, but also its number one client.

Birkin bags and tattoos, Casadei shoes and Goyard, Marni necklaces and furs, all the coolest  brands are carried about as the ultimate sign of belonging to the pack. The best is to carry next season’s ware before anyone.

Anunciaçao, a designer from ABEST –  the Brazilian association presenting in Paris

The biggest change in the industry in the last seasons is the ever growing use of social medias to communicate in the most minute details what one is doing at all moments. From the front rows, backstage, selling appointments, parties, while waiting for the show to start or simply to show their collection all the players are constantly updating their feed on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pin it… Sharing, blogging, reporting in an avalanche of images all the moments of Fashion Week. What used to be more ‘entre nous’ is now available to one and sundry from the screen of an iToy.

The Bloggers are also impressively numerous and decked out cut the most striking and fabulous figures from the catwalks or the trade shows where they dash in and out meeting the designers, sometimes just to be introduced and express their love of the clothes, sometimes hoping to snag some swag.

A blogger from a famous Romanian site « absolutelymuses »

Peony Lim, a London blogger and pretty it-girl.

Pour cette version en Francais, exceptionnellement, merci d’aller le voir sur le site du Monde:

http://fearlessinbeijing.blog.lemonde.fr/2013/03/04/lamodeparisfashionweek-pfw-billcunningham/

Je suis désolée mais trop prise en ce moment, mais il est lá, tout neuf, tout beau!

A bientot

Gabrielle