Fast-track to a mild October afternoon on the second to last day of Paris Fashion Week, the apartment remains very much the same. It is sleek and uncluttered but still homely. It's fashionable, but not pretentious, a combination of modern minimalism and a frank French attitude, much like Roitfeld herself. On the mantelpiece are framed black and white pictures of her family, reinforcing her devotion to long-time partner Christian Roitfeld and two children Julia and Vladimir. A recent addition is a framed mould of her granddaughter's footprint, a gift from Julia and Romy to their beloved "Babushka" (Roitfeld is half-Russian). A vase of pink roses provides the only pop of colour in a room that is otherwise shades of white, beige and grey. Books are neatly arranged on the coffee table in front of us, including a book of photographs of Patti Smith by Judy Linn and a hefty Helmut Newton tome, a photographer Roitfeld often references in her work.
Christian walks past, unfazed by the commotion taking over his home. Julia waves on her way out the door with baby Romy in tow. Soon the sound of high heels are heard click-clacking against that floor, and the woman of the moment arrives. She doesn't disappoint. Her petite frame is dressed in a "very Carine" outfit - fitted black leather jacket, pencil skirt, white Gianvito Rossi steel-cap heels and oversized Rick Owens shield sunglasses, her biscuit-coloured hair slightly dishevelled and, of course, her signature smoky black eyes. She apologises profusely for being slightly off-schedule and touches up her makeup.
"I never like to wear too much makeup," she insists during the interview, "and sometimes the best makeup is when it's not too perfect. I like to sometimes apply my makeup with my fingers." Among the dark kohl eye pencils and a range of eyeshadows for the M.A.C range, there's even a good luck star stencil. "I never had a beauty mark and I always wanted one, so this was just to add a bit of fun for the collection," she explains.
She says she is surprised to be interviewed by a male beauty editor. I confess that I'm actually a fashion editor and a little out of my comfort zone talking about makeup with a group of women. She smiles understandably. "You know to me, makeup is fashion and vice versa. What I dress and what I wear always needs to work with my makeup, which is usually the same anyway."
I congratulate her on her new magazine and in particular, for putting Anmari Botha, a model I had worked with when she first started modelling in New Zealand, in its pages as a model on the rise. "I think she is going to be big. When we finished shooting her she sent me some flowers, which I thought was really sweet," Roitfeld says. "I want to keep pushing her, because I think she is great." If that wasn't enough of an endorsement, Botha has just finished a successful Paris show circuit, walking for Chanel, Lanvin and the newly re-branded Saint Laurent Paris.
Later that evening, Roitfeld celebrates her M.A.C. collection with "Le Bal", an exclusive black tie party held at the ornate neoclassical-style hotel, Salomon de Rothschild. The guest list includes Balenciaga's Nicolas Ghesquire, Givenchy's Riccardo Tisci, Azzedine Alaia, US Vogue's international editor-at-large Hamish Bowles and Kanye West; the dress code "black tie smoky eye". The dimly lit hotel venue features modern dancers on podiums, a candlelit garden, a baroque dance room and a hallway covered in mirrors from floor to ceiling. In one room I bump into Vogue Japan's Anna Della Russo. I ask for a photo. She says something in a thick Italian drawl; I nod and smile politely. In another room I'm relieved to hear some Australian accents. I introduce myself to Edwina McCann, editor of Australian Vogue and her fashion editor Christine Centenera, then chat to Belgian journalist Veerle Windels about how Belgian designers have influenced several New Zealand designers over the years.
DJ Nick Cohen plays a fun set that includes the Bee Gees, Depeche Mode, Madonna, Fleetwood Mac and Joan Jett. Roitfeld dances to Snoop Dogg in between chats and photos with guests. I find myself dancing alongside Windels for most of the night and, at one point, with Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paola Piccioli, the designers at Valentino. It's unashamedly fun, with everyone in the mood to hit the dance floor. Unlike other fashion parties that can fall under the awkward umbrella of a pretentious DJ, Cohen plays the kind of music that you'd hear at a fun wedding or a 21st birthday. Paloma Faith gives a surprise performance, with a jewel-encrusted beehive. Models of the moment Joan Smalls and Karlie Kloss slink by and everyone cranes their necks to look up at them. Waiters top up drinks with champagne, or Roitfeld's favourite tipple, vodka. Dello Russo and her gigantic lattice headpiece decide to get up on a leather sofa to dance with L'Uomo Vogue editor and stylist Giovanna Battaglia. A willowy Alexander Wang leans against a column; photographer Mario Testino flashes a toothy grin. Later, Karl Lagerfeld shuffles in. He embraces Roitfeld, before she disappears into darkness in her custom-made Givenchy outfit and, of course, those black smoky eyes.
* To see more images of Dan's trip to Paris, visit facebook.com/nzheraldviva
AT THE SHOWS
Louis Vuitton
Sitting in a transformed Cour Carre du Louvre, waiting for the Louis Vuitton show to begin, it was poignant to read in the show notes that the collection was dedicated to Yves Carcelle, the outgoing chief executive of Louis Vuitton. Philip Glass' Knee Play 5 closed the show with models solemnly ascending four rows of escalators created by artist Daniel Buren, two by two, side by side, in a display of strict duality and unity. Inspired in part by Buren's Les Deux Plateaux, a work consisting of 260 columns of different heights, arranged in a grid, this is the first collection to exclude the house monogram in favour of the square damier check. Sixties-style shift dresses featured oversized and miniature versions of the check in bright yellow and green, while slender pointed pumps, slimline handbags and diamond drop earrings reinforced the return to a more discreet and personal luxury. This delicate proposition also featured in their new fine jewellery collection entitled "Lockit", presented earlier that week to international press. The 15-piece collection is inspired by the classic Louis Vuitton padlock and also references the legend of Pont des Arts bridge in Paris, where couples attach a padlock to a bridge and throw the key into the Seine river, sealing their love for eternity.
Christian Dior
Workers in white lab coats shuffle through the hallowed corridors of Christian Dior , as press gather to "re-see" the debut ready-to-wear collection from creative director Raf Simons, presented the previous week. Mannequins form a line-up with highlights including Dior's bar jacket re-interpreted as a fitted jacket dress, bright, sleeveless shift dresses with shimmering paillette detailing and sleek black tops worn with 1950s-style ball skirts made with an iridescent floral hand-painted fabric. Bejewelled perspex cuffs, slim metallic belts and minimalised Lady Dior handbags are indicative of Simons taking nostalgia and pushing it into the future. At the show, models strode out with no time to spare giving new energy to the Dior woman with sleek ponytails and remarkable crystal coloured eye makeup courtesy of makeup artist Pat McGrath.
The collection was a talking point throughout Paris Fashion Week, with Simons' re-setting the agenda for the house with a modern perspective on the back of his haute couture debut in July.
Miu Miu
The grand Palais D'Iena was transformed with a wooden runway set designed by Rem Koolhaas, showcasing Miuccia Prada's presentation to full effect. Malcolm McLaren's noir-infused Miles and Miles of Miles Davis and Neneh Cherry's I've Got You Under My Skin were played on loop as unhinged femme fatale characters sauntered out in skirt suits, coloured furs, 1960s-style swing coats and oversized rhinestone jewels. Supermodel Raquel Zimmerman set the tone, opening the show in a navy blue denim pencil skirt and matching coat lined with duchess satin, reinforcing Prada's love of transforming what could be considered as bad taste into something undeniably chic.
