Legendary hairstylist Odile Gilbert crowns Lacroix's "La Mariée" Vlada at the Centre Pompidou
Subsequent to
Pascal – my ultra-altruistic "chauffeur extraordinaire" (he surprised me at Charles de Gaulle with the most delightful Parisian cat book and later
Ladurée macaroons to tote home for my roommate
Elana) – proffering my super warmhearted and loyal Norweigan
mate Siri Tollerød and the always ebullient Aussie
Skye Stracke an entertaining lift from the
Chanel presentation on rue Cambon to the Christian Lacroix show at the Centre Pompidou, I
tarried backstage with some familiar faces and old friends.
After catching up with
Heidi Mount and
Ellen von Unwerth, I settled at "
coiffure" with the brilliant and witty
Odile Gilbert, where I
chatted with the lovely
Tanya Dziahileva (snug as a bunny in the most charming striped
Sonia Rykiel cardigan... more on our adventures later) and Lacroix's
third-time bride-to-be
Vlada Roslyakova.
Vlada – who attained the throne as Lacroix's "La Mariée" when fellow doll-faced belle
Lily Cole bowed out of Couture runway in July 2007 – revealed that she was keen on how the strawberry blonde rinse applied for an upcoming Christian Lacroix
video campaign (details originally
reported at PAPERMAG, thanks to Women Management's
James Tinnelly's kind missives) began to fade into the most fetching reddish-flaxen. Just as the backstage photographers and video cameramen had vacated the scene and made their way to the
wardrobe chambre, I suddenly beheld "the crowning moment" [above].
Originally assuming that I was in sooth a model awaiting maquillage (flatteringly jesting that "
Kate Moss was short too, you know"), Odile apprised to me that the gleaming wedding tiara was akin to her antique Russian coronet collection. She promptly added that her assemblage is predominantly composed of costume-jeweled crowns – "or else I wouldn't be here toiling away backstage" she quipped. I would have to beg otherwise considering that just three hours later at Colette I spotted Odile's eponymous in-demand line of
sleek hairpins when I hastily snapped up a grey
Lanvin ribbon motif pearl necklace and a straw
Maison Michel hat [
video] with
Liberty print
ditzy floral trim [
photo].
As the industry's chicest coiffeuse (scope out her portrait
here lensed by
Karl Lagerfeld), Odile's gravity-defying 'dos include
Kirsten Dunst in
Marie Antoinette and the notoriously innovative hairstyles at Rodarte, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Bottega Veneta, and Nina Ricci: so it's only fitting that the French Minister of Culture and Communications recently bestowed Odile with
the medallion of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.
But for the love of transformative coifs... please don't stray from the backstage!
bunny BISOUS,
ox jf
- Related: The History of Model Bags Explained: Backstage at Haute Couture Week [PAPERMAG]
- Related: Top Fashion Hairstylist Odile Gilbert [Teen Vogue]
- Related: Fêting Odile's fellow recipient of the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, The New York Times' Bill Cunningham at Bergdorf Goodman [Guest of a Guest]
- Link: Check out photos that I snapped at the intimate Chanel HC presentation at Pavillon Cambon Capucines (and noticable lack of quality compared to Mark's handiwork) after running into Patti Wilson and Rose Apodaca [The Cobrasnake]