introducing

If you’re trying to find some background information on the history of the french fashion brand Carven, that may be a bit hard to come by. The brand has a rich history, that was started in the 1940s by Madame Carven as a novice to the world of Haute Couture.  At the time she challenged the industry in her democratic outlook on fashion, making affordable luxuries for the masses. She had even served as a member of the very prestigious Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture in Paris in 1945.

Like many brands of that era, only few survived without interruption to this day. They’ve became more known for their perfume “Ma Griffe” and for working with airline companies to make their uniforms in the 1970s (Air France).

Following in the footsteps of brands like Chacharel, Carven has made a triumphant fashion come back since 2009 headed by (ex- Givency Paul Ka), Guillaume Henry at its helm.

I for one, am very excited with what Guillaume has done so far and hunger to see what he has in store for the seasons to come! He seems very much in touch with todays women, what we like and also the realities of our financial expectations.

Look at what he had to say to Vogue UK about the line “I wanted to create a look that was less evening, less cocktail, more girl next door; that’s the girl I know,” … ”Some designers create and imagine a woman, a customer, and that’s great – but it’s not for me. I design for the owner’s wife, my mother, my friends; someone going to work, with children, going out at night – women I know.”

Making clothes that’s accessible with a touch of luxury is definitely up my alley, and I’m sure you’ll

love it too.

Paris Store Address:
Boutique Carven
34 rue Saint Sulpice
Paris, France
Tel: +33 (0)1 43 54 78 72

Parisian Luxury Lingerie.

I had the pleasure of meeting Fifi Chachnil a while back, at her boutique in the 3rd Arrondisment of Paris, situated on a quite street between trendy Etienne Marcel and Les Halles.

Entering into the world of Fifi Chachnil is like bringing out your inner Bridget Bardot, sensual but never vulgar.

Feminine, soft, bubble gum pinks, french Rivera, playfulness and full of character. It’s almost like you’d expect of a wardrobe full of lingerie for a girl or woman who loves to be feminine and sexy for the fun of it. Lots of silk, lace, frills, and plenty of variety of pinks.

It’s one part Pin-up era and one part Alice in Wonderland.

Sensual Strength.

As for Fifi Chachnil the person; her presence really struck me as effortlessly feminine, charming yet alive. She has a delicate power in the way she dresses and the softness of her voice that’s evident in her designs, music and even the decor of the boutique that’s like a huge yet chic two story lingerie closet. She had her blond hair in a neat up-do with a red silk ribbon and silhouette hugging dress, as if in a 1950′s movie.

The dream Closet.

Like the french say  its a lot of “frou frou”

Fifi prides herself in making lingerie for “real” women. She’s into the art of making a woman feel comfortable in her undergarments. These lingerie are perfect to be worn on your wedding night or a boudoir photo session here in Paris.  Guys this would make a great gift for your special lady.

Shop Online.

Visit any one of her three boutiques in Paris but my favorite is the one at address 68 rue Jean-jacques Rousseau

75001 PARIS

Telephone. 01 42 21 19 93

One of the Tumblrs I follow posted this gorgeous black and white photography of a black little boy riding a horse, in the middle of a city street.

I was in love with the shot.

Then found out that the photographer behind the lens was Vivian Maier, she lived her life alone and was a nanny for many years, never sharing her photographs with anyone until one day after her death a lucky young man bid on a box of olf photographs at a sale in Chicago and what he got in return was years of American life captured on film by someone with an amazing eye.

Here are some of my favorite. To see more go to her dedicated website here.
http://www.vivianmaier.com

to see a video of the story go here

Have you heard of svpply.com?

The new website that allows you to find the products you love, from the people and stores you find interesting.

Sounds familiar?

Yea, its kind of i like boutiques.com but cleaner. Or should we say minimalist.

We’ll try to keep from over-analyzing but whereas Boutiques.com has a more sophisticated interface and really does a better job with the  initial “style test” I couldn’t seem to finish svpply.com “taste test” as it bugged out.

We gave up …

It also seems to have a whole lot of t-shirts and sneakers – seems more masculine and way more casual than the diversity of products that you can find on boutiques.com.

Maybe it just doesn’t have as many users (yet) as boutiques.com to make its interface as “sticky”, for now we’ll keep an eye on it.

We love the idea but we got frustrated and bored after 10 minutes on the site. It just seems like a tightly curated site that caters to the casual-street-hipster. Where are the products to droll/dream over, save money for and put on your Christmas wish-list.

I’m sure big improvements are in store as they’ve secured a VC backing from Spark Capital, same guys behind twitter and tumblr.

Try it let us know what you think.

One of the good things about Fashion Week is the gathering of so many beautifully creative people – you’re just bound to run into someone inspiring just around the corner.

That was the case with Michelle Elie, I saw her outside the Chanel Spring 2011 show.  She had this colorful top that popped out from her coat, it was like she was matching the sunburst yellow of the Vespa beside her.

Leather Top - Comme des Garcons, Pants - Bruno Pieters , Shoes - Haider Ackermann, Bag - Antique

I later found out that Michelle is a jewelry designer for a line of exquisite jewels called Prim.

” The Prim Collection is designed for the modern woman who is a fearless experimenter”

Her necklaces and bags have this “wow factor” that you’d expect from precious jewelry that’s been passed down for generations, or  that has been carefully made to reflect a certain “luxe a l’ancienne”.

A Midsummer Night Dream

Desafinado

You can see more of  Prim here.