2008 January « PetiteBrigitte

Archive | January, 2008

Soirée à la môde

In a glamourous end to elegant Haute Couture week, designers and models united for one night of partying and fundraising for the fight against AIDS.

Diner de la Môde is the annual bash that brings out the finest talent in fashion, and this year took place at the Pavilion d’Armenonville at the Bois de Boulogne. In attendance were such fashion doyens as Yohji Yamamoto, Ricardo Tisci (both featured above), Chrisian Lacroix, and Giambattista Valli. Supermodels and stars included Devon Aoki, Natalia Vodianova, Eva Herizigova, Dita von Teese, Diane Kruger, and French actress/Playboy centerfold Vahina Giocante. Oh, and Madame Catherine Deneuve.

The night was magical, and the dresses might have had something to do with it: Dita Von Teese looked ravishing in Lacroix haute, Eva Herizogova looked more like Helen of Troy than Diane Kruger in her Sophia Kokosalaki dress, and the eternal muse of the city, Carine Roitfeld, looked sultry in Christopher Kane.

The charity event raised nearly 1 million euros, and the auction included a black and white photo of Dita von Teese, and personally designed chairs by some of fashion’s biggest designers.

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Categories Arts & Culture, Events, Fashion Tendances

Haute highlights

26 Jan

Haute couture fashion week ended on Friday, and dedicated fashionistas flew back to their L.A. mansions and Park Ave penthouses this weekend. The week went smoothly and the parties were elegant affairs, such as the bash at Chaumet’s HQ at Place Vendome– a far cry from the men’s fashion week!

Highlights of the week included Roland Mouret’s continued comeback into the world of fashion, where his show found celebrities like Victoria Beckham lined up to buy his smartly cut and masterfully detailed silhouettes.

The city was full of the nouveau establishment, like Victoria and Dita von Teese, who once again sat together at Chanel and forced comparisons between their albino/orange skin complexion.

We saw a lot of the old establishment in town to bid Arrivederci to Valentino, including former muses Eva Herizgova, Claudia Schiffer, and Nadja Auermann.

Valentino’s show was dramatic and poignant, especially at the final bow. Now Karl Lagerfeld is the only big maestro left in the old designer clan! Val plans to focus his retirement on designing for the ballet and opera.

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Categories Fashion Tendances, Gossip from Paris

A VALiant end for Italy’s couturier

25 Jan

He’s dressed Liz Taylor, Jackie O, and Maria Callas, and now the legend that is Valentino took his final bow on a runway in Paris last night, at the Rodin Museum. Flanked by dozens of top models dressed in red, the final hoopla was more subdued than his extravagant retirement party in Rome last summer. Nonetheless, stars like Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Tamara Beckwith, David Furnish, Devon Aoki, Eva Herzigova, Miuccia Prada, and Alber Elbaz were there to show support.

Valentino spent the last month preparing for the show from his opulent Louis XIII chateau near Versailles.

A retrospective of his work will hit the Musée des Arts-Decoratifs this June.

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Categories Paris

Party of le Week: Tranoi

21 Jan

Men’s fashion week was the buzz of the town this past weekend, as the industry flocked to Paris to snap up the hot creations from designers like Kris von Assche, Hedi Slimane, and dozens of up-and-coming createurs. Two major men’s expositions– Tranoi and Rendez-vous, took place to showcase new collections from edgy designers like Surface to Air, Gaspard Yurkievich, and Xavier Brisoux.

Parties of mention around the city include last nights wild bash at the opulent Hotel Paiva (above) for Tranoi, where the night started with a presentation by Bernard Wilhelm, and was followed by entertainment by the Broken Hearts Club. What began as classy red carpet event ended like a frat party, and by 3am, the champagne needed restocking and bouncers were busy hauling out roudy partiers. “Literally an hour after the Veuve was brought out, the wheels fell off and everyone went crazy. I saw someone get rugby tackled on the dance floor. At that point the level was set for the night,” said Mic Eaton of up-and-coming label, Material Boy. “I’m rather tired today,” he added.

Other parties were held over the weekend at La Scala and Experimental Cocktail Club (which was THE private venue of the week, hosting everyone from Details magazine to the Rendez-Vous group).

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Categories Events, Fashion Tendances, Gossip from Paris

Jack’s back to Costes

19 Jan

Jack Nicholson & Morgan Freeman dropped in on Paris this week to promote their new film called “The Bucket List,” in which they play two old geezers who meet in a hospital room and decide to take the road trip of a lifetime on Jack’s private jet.

Jack hung out at Hotel Costes on Thursday evening, where he was surrounded by heavy hitters in the French social scene— like Yves Saint Laurent and Gilles Lellouche, who were both dining with separate parties at the hip venue.

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Categories Gossip from Paris, Nightlife in Paris

Keeping her crown

15 Jan

Miss France and pageant organizers have reached a compromise decision following the photo scandal that surfaced last month (see previous article).

Valérie Begue will keep her crown this year, but will not participate in any international contests, such as Miss Universe. Instead, Miss New Caledonia will fill in.

Who is Miss New Caledonia? It’s Vahinerii Requillart (see above). Where is New Caledonia? It’s a French island in the Southwest pacific, where they don’t take scandalous digital photos, and still use the franc as currency!

This seems like a win for Miss France (the public was on her side anyway). Now with no pageants to rehearse for, she have lots of time to….

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Categories Events, Nouvelles

Asterix Premiers on Champs

14 Jan

It felt like the Croisette in Cannes on Sunday night, when the third installation of Asterix premiered on the Champs-Elysées. All of the major stars of the film showed up, including Vincent Cassel in a dapper moustache (perhaps a little too 1970′s pornstar). The only exception was Gerard Depardieu, who did not make it.

Elsewhere, Cassel’s gorgeous wife, Monica Bellucci, dined at Hotel Costes in the company of her agent and brother in law, Mathias.

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Categories Paris

Sarkozy and Carla married and expecting!

11 Jan

Rumors are flying around Paris this evening that President Sarkozy and his supermodel fiancée Carla Bruni MARRIED yesterday in the Mairie du 16ème arrondisement!

The couple have only been together for a couple of months.

Even juicier, the couple are said to be expecting a bébé. Oh mon dieu!!

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Categories Gossip from Paris

Bitter much?

11 Jan

What ex-wife is not taking the news of her ex’s rebound very well?

“He is not a dignified man. He needs to surround himself with pretty young things dressed in Dior,” she reportedly told French journalist Anna Bitton.

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Categories Paris

Eva Green cited by Mr. Blackwell!

10 Jan

Eva for the Dior 60th anniversary party at Versailles. Summer 2007.

Bond girl Eva Green caught the fashion fury of Mr. Blackwell this year, as she landed number 6 on the infamous 48th Annual Worst Dressed List. The fashion forward Parisian, who has made some daring choices in wardrobe selection (though always leaning towards haute couture), was not available for comment after the release of the list.

But is she really that bad? Is she dressing badly or just making some non-commercial fashion statements? Here she is in Alexander McQueen:

Eva was the only Frenchie to be caught up in the fashion attack, which had L.A. buzzing yesterday as Posh Spice listed at number 1, followed by other less surprising names like Amy Winehouse, Kelly Clarkson, and Mary Kate Olsen.

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Categories Fashion Tendances, Gossip from Paris

The Hottest Sarkozy: Premier Fils!

9 Jan

He looks more like a Casiraghi than a Sarkozy, but Pierre Sarkozy (above right) is the eldest son of the President, and at 22 years of age we can’t understand how this hottie has evaded the teen hearthrob magazines?

Pierre was ‘outed’today as a rap producer. He’s been collaborating with explicit rappers like Poison, who know him only by the name ‘Mosey’and not as the First Son of France.

Poison tells the AP: “When I found out, I swear I went ballistic,” Poison said. “The worst thing is that … I found out maybe six, seven months ago, and I’ve known the guy for the last five years. He’s a friend.”

On his MySpace page, hot Pierre credits the song ‘La Rue’as one of his tracks.

Sarko has declined to comment on family matters, but there is a lot of irony in this situation: as Interior Minister, Sarko vowed to crack down on explicit rap lyrics!

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Categories Gossip from Paris

French President of Facebook?

9 Jan

Is Arash Derambarsh the new President of FaceBook? Je crois que non!

Leading French press outlets, including TF1, L’Express, and Le Point, were duped this week into reporting that a Frenchman had been ‘elected’the President of Facebook.

Read this accompanying article for one of the best pranks ever pulled by facebook users. And remember, never trust what you read! These publications did ZERO fact checking! (hey, they should come join us a PetiteBrigitte!)

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Categories Gossip from Paris

Un doigt pour Dati

8 Jan

French Justice Minister, Rachida Dati, received a present in the mail on Friday at her government headquarters– and it wasn’t a galette de roi. Her mail service opened a box containing a severed finger, and a note. Details of the note were not released, but we speculate it made some reference to the middle finger.

Poor Rachida, she’s lost Sarko and now this!

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Categories Gossip from Paris

President Sarkozy proposes marriage to Bruni

6 Jan

Barely 4 months after his divorce from Cecilia, le Journal du Dimanche reports today that Sarkozy and former-top-model Carla Bruni will walk down the aisle in a wedding planned for February 8th or 9th. This well-informed news source, owned by a close friend of Sarko’s, seems to have the inside scoop on the nuptials.

According to the paper, Sarkozy gave Carla an engagement ring designed by Victoire de Castellance of Dior. She gave him a Patek Phillipe watch.

The couple have been together one month, and recently caused an international paparazzi incident over the holidays when they vacationed in Egypt– sharing the same Presidential suite and frolicking on the beach.

The reaction among the French people is mixed this morning. Many are shocked by the speed of this apparent ‘coup-de-foudre.’One Parisian offered up the observation that, “It would be like the frog marrying the Princess.”

Rumors have been swirling for the past week after Carla’s mother, a former concert pianist who lives in a castle in Turin, confirmed that Sarkozy had given her daughter a ring and wanted an answer on New Year’s Day. Carla was said to be considering the proposal. Known as a ‘femme fatale’and free spirit, Carla had previously stated to Le Figaro that monogamy “bores me desperately.”

………Is Sarko making a good decision, or is he headed for divorce number 3? We want your thoughts, so comment below!

Photo courtesy FilmMagic.

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Categories Gossip from Paris

Bonne Annee 2008!

1 Jan

Paris ushered in 2008 last night with parties around the city, although the vibe according to officials was generally “calm,” with only 150 cars torched by vandals.

Today, smoke still billows out of the cafes on the Champs-Elysees as bleary-eyed tourists recuperate from the nighttime festivities. Looks like that new smoking ban is going to take some enforcement!

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Categories Events

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