"Mission Lanvin for H&M"

For some weeks now I've been thinking about how to be today, at the nearest H&M to my house, as early in the morning as possible.

Because today, in most of H&M's stores worldwide, at 8 am sharp, the exclusive collection designed by Lanvin's Alber Elbaz was to be unveiled. In the past years, always in November, H&M has been hiring different designers to create an exclusive line to be sold at really low prices. The first one was Karl Lagerfeld, then it was the turn for Roberto Cavalli, Matthew Williamson, Jimmy Choo and Sonia Rykiel. All of them great designers... but Alber Elbaz, from Lanvin, is the GREATEST of them all...

I've been checking online the different designs and I've seen the ad directed by Mike Figgis a thousand times (fantastic!). For a fashionista as myself, it was a real challenge... but to get in line and wait for opening hour since 5 am, with the cold and -1°C, felt like too much...

Finally, I've decided I'd be there by 9 am, calmly... and come what may!

And so I did... I got into my jogging, my Uggs, a sport jacket, gloves and earmuffs. As I reached the new H&M store by Champs-Elysées, I saw fences, policemen and security controls. At least 40 women were already there, waiting patiently. They gave me a pink bracelet and told me I'll be getting inside by 10:15. Among the others waiting and quite ahead of me, I noticed Laurence, the owner of the Optician's where I have my glasses made. I went to say hi to her, jumping ahead. When she saw me, she said in awe: "Vous, Madame d'Arenberg, ici?!"

I explained to her that I wouldn't miss such historical fashion moment for anything in this world.

At 10 am they led us into the basement of the store, where we had to wait by new fences, but we now had a privileged view of all the store, with the hangers full of pink dresses, red tules, prints and embroideries... A woman waiting with us said out loud that a friend of hers told her that on the store by Boulevard Haussman there was almost a mutiny and that the women took it all, throwing down hangers and whatever came in their way. Another said that to those who got in by 8 am were received with coffee and croissants.

At 10:14 the manager of the store told us we would be getting in shortly and that we would only have 15 minutes to look around and pick what we wanted... total madness.

As I finally stepped in, I've realized it was truly a dream come true. The clothes were done in really good fabrics and the shoes (for 99 euros), with embroideries, were made in Italy. The necklaces and earrings looked like those in the Lanvin flagship store, but at 10% of the price...

Each accessory had its special box and white satin paper. Bags and wraps for dresses were white and had Alber Elbaz drawings... divine!

It was indeed a great experience. Haute Couture goes down the street and democratizes itself. And why not?

It doesn't bother me at all, in fact I love it. If we all have the same dress, then each of us will make an extra effort to look different with it: with the pose, with what you eat, with how you mix it with other pieces of your wardrobe...

As usual, a challenge for us, women, but I'm sure we all know how to handle it...

Mission accomplished!!

Wedding in Belgium (Part II...)

(... Part II, because the first of the weddings of my cousin Charles Antoine de Ligne's sons was in September 2009 and some of my loyal readers might remember it, since I wrote a post on it...)

Yesterday was the turn of Charles-Joseph de Ligne, who bears the same name of his distinguished ancestor, one of the most interesting characters of the 18th Century because of his Culture and his friendship with many of the greatest people of his time, among which was Catherine the Great. He held a long epistolary friendship with her and all those letters are carefully secured in the Castle in Antoing. And it  was there, in Antoing, that we all gathered again to celebrate.

But there were some differences with the wedding of his brother: Charles-Joseph married Ran Li, a beautiful girl from China. I think, in fact, that she is the first Chinese to become princess in Belgium and probably among the few in Europe. For me it's like a breath of fresh air when the antique European families incorporate young people from other cultures. 

The wedding indeed, thanks to Ran's Chinese influence, was really sensational and fun. To begin with, the dress code for the ball asked for looks resembling the style of the "Deuxième Empire," which was the time of Sissi the Empress. For almost a month, all of us guests organized together the frenetic search over dresses with huge skirts for the ladies and uniforms for the men. Rental houses were sacked! As for me, to simplify matters, I decided that an Oscar de la Renta, as usual, would do the trick. All I did, then, was get myself a tiara to finish the look.

Yesterday's afternoon we had the civil ceremony, because as the groom and bride belong to different religions, there was no ceremony at a church.

And at night, as I got to the ball, I could see that all the guests have done important efforts to fulfill the dress code... I felt as if I had travelled back to 1870!!! 

The dominant color of the decorations of the tent were dinner was held was red. The bride herself wore a red dress, as it is a custom in China (she told me this). Gerard Watelet (from Belgium, of course), was the designer in charge of it. The groom looked so handsome with his white and red uniform and hair tied in a ponytail.

As we had dinner, a Chinese all-women-ballet with infinite grace, danced to entertain us. And after the traditional waltz, none of our huge skirts held us from dancing to disco music and rock... I guess that, seen from outside, we must have looked quite ridiculous... But who cares?

Lots of luck to Ran in her new life...

(Me with Hubert Guerrand Hermès (yes, the sane of the bags!) and the Baron de la Vallette)

An afternoon in Paris...

Without me even noticing, winter has arrived to Paris. This afternoon, some drops of rain began to fall and soon became the first snow flakes... light and inconsistent, but snow at last... Now it's 6°C...

But this has not prevented Basquiat-lovers, the great American Contemporary artist born in Haiti, to wait in long lines to see his retrospective exhibition at the Musée d'Art Moderne.

Patient, under their umbrellas, facing stoically the weather. But nothing less would be expected, since the work of this tremendous artist, who died in 1988 at age 28 due to drug abuse, was shown here for the last time in 1984.

As for the-very-organised-me, I had my tickets pre-booked a long time ago, so luckily, I got in quite fast.

The exhibition is incredible: gigantic masterpieces that cause so much distress and pain. He was in fact a "graffiti" artist who began painting on the streets to end up on canvases. Many elements are constant in all his works: voodoo, modern advertising, american afros and words in Spanish (his mother was Puerto Rican)... all of them mixed with spontaneity and freshness. 

I imagine that 30 years ago his works must have intrigued profoundly... This year he would have been 50 years old.

To finish my afternoon and lift my spirit, I went to Christophe Robin's, my colorist for more than 10 years now, to have my hair highlighted. He has his salon now in a suite at the Hotel Maurice, one of the great "Palaces" of Paris and just crossing its lobby, with its elegant restaurant-bar and antique golden elevator, is already an event. But he has not been in this hotel forever: he used to have a minuscule salon on rue Mont Thabor. It was small but full of charm... You could come across Catherine Deneuve, his N°1 client, or Jeanne Moreau, smoking at the entrance, or Isabelle Adjani, hiding under her hat...

While Marie, Christophe's assistant, applies the product on my hair, she updates me on the latest gossips: Eva Longoria's divorce due to an alleged infidelity by her former husband Tony Parker. Or how Shakira kept cleaning the excess of product while Marie dyed her hair the other afternoon... they finished by 10 pm!

We, instead, were over by 7 pm... As I went back home, I saw the Place de la Concorde, the lights by  the Seine and Pont Alexander III...

It's so good to be back home... tonight there's a new episode of "Mad Men" on TV.

What a pleasure!

Having dinner with Antonio Skármeta...

Yesterday was one of those very awaited days for Literature lovers... the winners of two of the most important Literary Prizes were announced: the Goncourt and the Renaudot.

The Prix Goncourt was finally awarded to "La Carte et le Territoire" by Michel Houellebecq, a huge French writer also known for "Plateforme" and "La possibilité d'une île." It's been a while since critics were claiming this award for him and this time they were heard. The book, which I've already read, is extremely interesting.

The Prix Renaudot was given to Virginie Despentes, author of "Apocalypse bébé," a pseudo-thriller, really catching. Virginie Despentes is considered the rebel of Contemporary Literature and she won this award with full support of the critics. And it was thanks to some friends of mine that I was invited to a dinner held in her honor at the Hotel Lutetia, and it was thanks to my Spanish that I found myself seated next to Antonio Skármeta. The Chilean author of "Ardiente Paciencia," which inspired the movie "Il Postino" (starring Philippe Noiret and Massimo Troisi), is visiting Paris to promote his latest work: "Un padre de película," now soon to be released in its French version.

It was such a pleasure to spend the evening next to him and I took the chance to "shoot" him with my many questions. He turned out to be a charming man with a great disposition to share a conversation.

He told me that apart from being a writer, he's always dreamed of becoming an actor and that he asked for a small role when the shooting of another movie based on a novel of his, "El Baile de la Victoria" (directed by Fernando Trueba and starring Ricardo Darín), began. He told me, when I asked him how he realized he wanted to be a writer, that it was while reading the Martín Fierro (which he still remembered, for he did tell me some of its verses) in primary school in Buenos Aires, that he fell in love with Poetry and Literature. After those years on an Argentine school, he went to college in Chile, then studied Philosophy in USA and then was forced to exile in Berlin, from where he returned as Chile's Ambassador in 2000... Such a life left behind and such a life waiting ahead... projects, books to write, movies and an Opera based on "Il Postino" with Plácido Domingo, to be premiered in Paris in 2011... 

I spent a wonderful time with a unique person...

How lucky I am to speak Spanish...!!

Fall in Paris... Parc Monceau, as seen from my window...

The Sartorialist in Buenos Aires...

I did not have the time before I left to Paris to tell you that a couple of weeks ago, Scott Schumann, creator of the blog The Sartorialist, made a short visit to Buenos Aires. He is considered a pioneer in the trend of photo-shooting common people on the streets to show "real" looks, as opposed to those seen on runway shows. With time, his site got more sophisticated and he already has assistants in various cities of the world. US Vogue, in its website style.com, has The Sartorialist as an associated blog and has done much to increase its popularity. He has now million of imitators, as for example Tommy Ton. He traveled to Buenos Aires together with his girlfriend, fellow photographer and blogger, Garance Doré. It was a pleasure meeting them both. In the picture below you'll see me sitting next to them.

Revista Noticias (N° 1766 - October 30th 2010)

Le Musée Jacquemart-André...

My desk in Paris, from where I'm writing now...

Paris was waiting for me with its best colors: those of Fall. No other season looks best on it than Fall and its many colors. The Parc Monceau is full of gold as the leaves on trees have shifted into yellow, orange and copper... wonderful.

And to make myself at home, I payed a visit to the Musée Jacquemart-André, which features an exhibit of masterpieces by Rubens and Poussin, great artists of the 17th century. One, a prolific flemish painter, the other, an exponent of the French classical style. Both are showcased here next to other fellow artists, also great examples of the Flemish period, such as Eustache Le Sueur, Laurent de la Hyre o les Frères Le Nain. Of course, you'll be genuinely impressed (at least I was) in front of "Le Bain de Diane," by Pierre Paul Rubens, of whom it was said that his use of color was more beautiful than that of Nature herself. And you'll feel the same with the works of Nicolas Poussin, specially with the magnificent "Mercure, Hersé et Aglaure," which he painted in 1624.

It's totally worth it to visit this exhibit, and also the entire Museum, which has a History of its own too, for it used to be the private residence of a legendary Parisian couple, Edouard André and Nelie Jacquemart. Both important art collectors, they made of their "hotel particulière" one of the most elegant spots in Paris, rich in masterpieces. As they died with no heir at the begining of the 20th century, they donated their house and collection to the Institut de France, which opened it to public visitors in 1913.

Le bain de Diane, by Pierre Paul Rubens.

New post on our Beauty Section!

Dear readers!

I know we have not been publishing posts on our Beauty section for some time now... But we have gathered new info and data to share with you. Today we've published a new post, with the help of my dermatologist, on skin care.

I hope you like it!!