Fashion

THE CHANEL SHOW; WHAT HAPPENS ON THE STREET

Yesterday morning marked the highlight of Paris Fashion Week the Chanel show. No matter how you look at it, there is no greater spectacle than that. Like every season, the entire fashion army travels to the Grand Palais, already one of the most beautiful locations in the city. Last season, king Karl transformed the whole thing into a Chanel airport, before that it was a French brasserie, and before that a supermarket – well, you get the idea: big bigger biggest.

This year, however, the decor was approached in a smaller and more subtle way. On the invite (which I, of course, did not have) it said: “front row only” and there was just a small chair depicted. As mentioned, I had no invite. So I watched the show via Instagram and Snapchat and indeed: it all seemed a lot calmer. The idea was, I think, that it was a private viewing like was done in the past for the collections: a few rows of chairs so that everyone can see it extra well. Only in this case, there were hundreds of rows of chairs, which meant indeed everyone was front row.

But as is known, the spectacle on the street is always at least as big and impressive as what happens on the catwalk. And extra bonus: you don’t need an invite for that. So I hopped on the metro on my way to the Grand Palais and when I got off, I immediately fell with my nose in the butter. Chiara Ferragni I just happened to walk in, so all the photographers went crazy. Here you see by the way, a video we made last year.

You have to imagine that at the big shows there are about 100 photographers, maybe even more. At shows where ‘regular’ celebrities come (Justin Bieber, Rihanna, that kind of types), part of that group is paparazzi. Their goal is simple: make sure the celebrity in question is recognizable in the picture. Those photos are sold for a lot of money to the photo agencies and newspapers they work for and end up in the image banks.

The other side of the group are the street style photographers, and there have been more and more of them in recent years. Brands fill influential bloggers with their latest items, hoping that the blogger will be photographed with them and thus provide free PR for the brand. Street style images have become mega popular, so almost every website and magazine has an item for it, and those titles often send their own photographers to the shows to capture everything.

And that is the big difference with the paparazzi; street style photographers want to capture the outfit as well as possible. They first look at the clothing and only then at the person. Exceptions aside, of course, by now Chiara for example has become such a big name that she will always be photographed, even if she wears a garbage bag. But also non-famous people can be snapped, as long as they wear a killer outfit. And that attracts a lot of crazies, who go to the shows in the most hysterical outfits solely with the aim of being photographed.

And at Chanel all of the above can be seen in the largest form. Everything, from real celebrities to fashion celebrities to bloggers to customers to everything comes there. Some are allowed inside, some linger outside – including me. Dammit. You have to imagine that dozens of large black cars with tinted windows come driving up, from which a Celebrity emerges and EVERYONE then jumps on top of that. On the other side of the street, another peacock walks by and then the whole scene shifts over there. Really, it’s amazing to see how fast the average photographer can run, through the crowd across the streets, all for the perfect shot.

If you ever find yourself in Paris during Fashion Week, go to the Grand Palais on the last Tuesday of PFW around 10:00 AM and then in the afternoon to Jardin des Tuileries, where Valentino shows. Find a spot, grab a chair and watch. Feast your eyes on the crazy spectacle that is Fashion Week. And on the street, it’s really ‘front row only.’