Argentine noon in Paris...

With lots of joy and illusion, today at noon I crossed the whole of Paris, from my 8th arrondissement to the unknown (at least, to me) Rue Fontaine au Roi, in the 11th arrondissement... so far away from home! But be it all to witness the runway show of dear Argentine designers and friends, all gathered to participate in this event.

Invited by the French Government, the usual participant of the BAAM, the famous Salón de la Alta Costura, organized every year at the Sheraton Hotel of Buenos Aires by the tireless Héctor Vidal Rivas (mythical stylist to many TV stars in Argentina), showed really good collections, that caught the attention of many...

They were (in order of appearance) Laurencio Adot, who brought Carolina Baldini as guest model-vedette and showed really nice dresses, mainly in salmon and one splendid long black gown, with transparencies, which I loved.

Then came Sylvie Burstein, who in Argentina used to run the Maison Nina Ricci, and has that sheer light style in pastels that looks so chic.

It was then the turn of Claudio Cossano, who dressed Mariana Nannis (Where did she come from? Someone told me from Marbella) and her daughter, whose name I do not remember.

After him, Verónica de la Canal presented her precious and embroidered corsets, all really eye-catching.

A special mention deserves EA MODA (which stands for Escuela Argentina de Moda) with their seven creations, inspired in the essence of Argentina, using, for example, leather of different colors to reproduce the houses of la Boca, or precious stones and crystals in a long dress imitating our flag.

My congratulations to those who did the casting of the models... they were mainly Russian, beautiful, perfect, professionals, all of who knew how to give value to the pieces they were carrying with elegance and grace.

A note also to the hair-dos, classic and perfect, and the make-up, delicate and "soignée."

For the finale, it was the turn of Jorge Ibañez, who I knew little and thought that he only dressed vedettes from Argentina. But how wrong I was! He showed seven really good looks and a "mise en scène" with Ingrid Grudke, dressed as Evita Perón, first with her tailleur of skirt, hat and feathers, imitating the gestures of Argentina's most popular icon. Then she walked a copy of the Dior dress she used when she did an official travel to Europe in the 50s, strapless, with an embroidered corset and a tulle skirt in grey and silver... All this, to the sound of "Don't cry for me, Argentina," in Spanish and English, and with the voice of Antonio Banderas... I was really touched.

Is it maybe because my heart is truly Argentine and misses home? Who knows...

But the thing is I had a really nice time, meeting friends of so many years, and proud to see that, in spite of the many problems, lack of materials and fabrics, and economic crises, Argentine designers were able to show their talent and travel fearless to Paris, the sophisticated capital of Fashion, to show with success their creations in the 11th arrondissement...

A pleasure...