It's amazing how wearing an "It" dress can rock your world.
For those of you who read my Huffington Post Wedding Blog:
... and my Huffington Post Honeymoon Blog:
...you know how easily I can fall in love with a perfect dress.
But can wearing an "It" dress change me?
I decided to find out.
So... when I attended Paris Fashion Week for Spring-Summer 2016 -- with 750 of the world's top fashion leaders -- I decided I'd wear a dress I knew would be an iconic one.
In this case, it was Louis Vuitton.
But then I thought, would wearing an "It" dress make me feel connected to the DNA of a brand?
You have to know -- if you've seen our show Lives of Style in San Francisco or L.A. -- that, after covering New York Fashion Week for 13 seasons, with designer stars like DVF
Donna Karan
Vera Wang
Jason Wu
and Narciso Rodriguez
-- with models like Estella Warren
and Petra Nemkova
We revel in runway -- including the celebrities --
Like Jennifer Lawrence
Kim and Kourtney
And Fergie
See: VIDEO...
but the pull and power of Paris is twenty-times greater.
I already had purchased the first look in Nicolas's Spring/Summer 2015 show -- see me here with my now-husband Frank:
But I wanted more...
So the day before the show -- with my go-to-Guru from Louis Vuitton -- Quentin Rubin:
I tried on scores of looks to find the one right "It" look for me.
It was -- however, the "It" look at least seven other women at the show were wearing.
Paris was agog -- they even had contests about "Who wore it best?"
I was less than thrilled.
But, even in an "It" dress sported by a cadre of others, as I walked over to say hello to friends in the fashion industry like Harper's Bazaar's Editor-in-Chief Glenda Bailey
Then spotted Marie Claire's Nina Garcia and spied Carine Roitfeld and scores more bellwether bastions of fashion, I stood up straighter, smiled more warmly, and literally sailed to my seat.
The dress wore me -- and I knew that, even with others in the same look, it was the "It" outfit of the day.
So when I chatted with Florence Masurel, Directeur General of Louis Vuitton France:
And Christophe Bertin, Directeur, Champs-Élysées original flagship store:
I felt, well, cool.
People around the world posed with me:
And even Anna Wintour gave a glance!
.
It made me realize that fashion is more than "It" looks--it is more than wearable art.
Iconic fashions take massive creativity, courage, consistent focus and excellent craftsmanship to "birth."
To that find out more, I was invited for a private visit to the Louis Vuitton Maison
Where Louis Vuitton and his descendants:
Lived for a time. It is a gracious edifice:
Away from the bustle of downtown Paris.
And then I had a private tour of the original Louis Vuitton factory.
And the Louis Vuitton Museum.
At the factory (no photos allowed), they work on made-to-order pieces. I viewed fabrications of every conceivable leather -- master craftspeople -- one was even knighted -- carefully piecing together what will be cherished cases and trunks.
At the Louis Vuitton Museum I saw a through-line of creativity over generations of designers.
With pieces from the original ready-to-wear collections.
Handbags and trunks and photographs memorializing the history -- and DNA of the brand.
It's these designers and craftsmen -- from Nicolas Ghesquière:
On down -- who take this storied brand and propel it to the "now," with an eye to the future.
So... I concluded, an "It" dress is more than a look -- it's a responsibility . I shared this with Andrea Di Lorenzo, Directeur of Louis Vuitton's Womenswear -- who works with Nicolas.
It's a carrying on of a creative tradition -- and an influx of talent and fresh ideas.
So, when I was invited again, to attend the Fall-Winter 2016/17 Louis Vuitton show Wednesday, I knew I'd be less focused on the thrill of wearing an "It" dress -- and thinking more about my connection to the people who created it.
It is an awesome responsibility -- this "It" dress thing.
I'm more than happy to carry the mantle again.