Couture

Last week’s couture equalled new shows, new faces and a whirl of terrific parties. A highlight was Giambattista Valli’s first ever couture collection. Held in the passage outside his shop, it felt multo Roman, multo exclusive and – judging from the ladies going bananas over his floor-length capes – multo alluring. I met Giamba when he braved a Mohican haircut and was Mr Ungaro’s apprentice. Now he owns his First Division fashion house yet still takes the Métro. “It’s much faster than a chauffeur-driven car,” he says.

Melvin Sokolsky is a new discovery. The American photographer was here for his Royal Monceau retrospective. I was always a fan of Sokolsky’s work – particularly his ‘bubble’ series – and now I’m a fervent fan of the man even if we started squabbling within seconds of being introduced! Sokolsky reminded me of interviewing the late Richard Avedon. Both brilliant raconteurs and excellent teachers: as keen to answer questions as they were ‘keen’ to correct facts. Sokolsky’s iconic bubble was inspired by a human flower from Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights. Stubbornly innovative, he’d “prefer to commit suicide than copy someone else’s work.”

Another new face is Elizabeth von Guttman. Odd to admit when the ubiquitous blond is one of the powers behind Industrie, the much-talked about glossy exposing fashion insiders. She’s one of the few women to wear a cropped orange top and matching mini skirt at breakfast and get away sporting the same outfit, past midnight. The lithe-limbed Elizabeth has guts – love that! But then so does Lee Radziwill. Seated next to fellow style icon Sofia Coppola, she wore a straw trilby at Vuitton’s early morning Cruise presentation. When grilled about the head gear – cheeky me! - Lee replied: “the hat stays on.” No explanation but Princess Lee is right. All hats require 100% confidence.

Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni is a Paris-based British journalist who covers fashion and lifestyle as well as being the author of Sam Spiegel – The Biography of A Hollywood Legend, Understanding Chic, an essay from the Paris Was Ours anthology and soon-to-be released Chanel book, for Assouline's fashion series.

Robert Beck is former New Yorker currently based in Paris. Also known as C.J. Rabbitt, he is the author and illustrator of several children's books, including The Tale of Rabbitt in Paradis, Un Lapin à Paris and the soon-to-be-published A Bunny in the Ballet.