PFW Day 2 - Givenchy haute couture

Me and Sofia

The people I've met and the friends I made during fashion week have all been pretty amazing thus far. I've met Giorgio from Athens, Greece, who studied fine art photography and photographs internationally for VIP parties and fashion weeks. His photos are all beautiful and romantic as he only shoots in black and white because "I see better in black and white, the details are all more visible." Sofia is from Morrocco and she is the sweetest girl ever to hang out with. The above photo is shot by pretty boy Giorgio using my camera when me and Sofia just sat down on the concrete next to the Ritz. Not a very glamorous thing to do, but we were so tired after shooting 1 day in the hot sun and walking all over Paris.

The beautiful Place Vendome

Just a asymmetric tank top & denim shorts - so chic

Hanneli & her Prada sandals - she carries off the midi skirt so well

Hanneli in action! She gives directions very well just to get that one good photo

Joan Smalls

I almost died seeing Daphne Guinness in real life.
And in those heelless shoes!

Franca Sozzani smiling for me and Sofia (:

I can't resist snapping Anna Dello Russo again that day when I saw her - that woman is just so irrestible. It's not just whatever she puts on, it's the way she carries herself when she's in front of people. She is just so full of life and vitality and you get the feeling that she dresses up genuinely instead of for the sake of being photographed, unlike some of the socialites and rich heiresses that I've seen for some of the other couture shows. And seeing Anna together with Tommy Ton is just so cute; there's really a bond between them and Tommy always captures Anna at her best.

Seeing Daphne Guinness and Grace Coddington were also the highlights of the day. I now understand what Daphne means when she said in the Nowness video [Daphne's Window] that she dresses to express a certain emotion or to protect herself against the evils in life, because I really do feel that her clothes and her frequent use of headdresses gives her more authority and presence that she would admit she has. On twitter she appears to be a very contemplative and fragile person, but in person, she gives off an untouchable air. Almost like the exact opposite of ADR.

I may never get to know these fashion icons and heavyweights personally in my lifetime, but seeing them in person is just enlightening because what the internet perceives them to be is usually only a part of them that you see only in front of the lenses. You don't see the way they carry themselves or the way they talk to other people. But in person, you get a better perspective and sometimes it tells you why they are so involved in fashion.

Fashion and Sex

Don't get me wrong. I love fashion. But I don't love the things associated with fashion, namely the backstabbing, the painfully thin girls, the sexual harassment or exploitation of models by *ahem* certain photographers etc...
However, one thing which used to repulse me, but and now accept gladly is the presence of transsexuals in fashion, and of course, in our community.
When I was young, I thought that transsexuals were perverse people who relishes in acting the opposite sex. But then, now I recognize that transsexuals are brave people because they're the ones who made the bravest choices. It's not their fault that they were born to be a girl in a boy's body or vice versa. It's hard to take that first step and declare a sex change because of the way society rejects such people as freaks. (But then again, our society rejects any abnormalities as freaks, it's how nature works.) I imagine that even a lot of their close friends and family would have trouble accepting that their friend, whom they have taken to be a man/woman all along, has suddenly turned into the opposite sex. So I'm glad that at least transsexualism and androgyny are constantly featured in fashion spreads, as this will somewhat diminish the social stigma associated with such people.

I'd like to think the first tendencies towards androgyny actually came from the feminist movement, and many designers took their ideas from the street and started designing suits, pants and ties for women. Prominent designers include Chanel, who wore mens clothes in an era of aristocratic French society where women wore elaborate hats, structured dresses with corsets and piled on tons of pearls. She introduced her famous Chanel suit of a tweed jacket paired with a blouse and a knee length skirt in 1923. Later on, YSL, introduced the famous Le Smoking suit, and Giorgio Armani built his entire design philosophy based on menswear inspired suits for women. And even till now, such attire is frequently seen on the runway, recently championed by some of Phoebe Philo's minimalistic designs. Such suits empowered women, changed the roles associated with the two genders and encouraged women to work.

Chanel suits

YSL Le Smoking suit - photographed by Helmut Newton for Vogue Paris

Stefano Pilati's reinterpretations of YSL Le Smoking suit S/S09

Giorgio Armani S/S 03

And it was not just women borrowing from men's wardrobes, but the men did it too! Marc Jacobs is infamous for wearing his kilts and cross dressing. So did the late Alexander McQueen.

Androgynous models such as Aggy Deyn and Andrej Pejic were preferred because of their combination of both mens and womens characteristics.

The fashion world loves androgyny- characterized by an individual possessing both feminine and masculine traits. Appealing to both sexes is beneficial to fashion designers who love to show the versatility of clothes and accessories. - Quoted from theexaminer.com

Hottest transsexual model of the moment is Lea T., born Leo to a Brazilian soccer hero father. Lea burst into the scene after being casted in Givenchy's F/W 10 ad campaign. Lea also posed nude for Vogue Paris, before her sex change operation. (not posting it here cos I don't want my blog to be flagged for nudity photos, if you want to see the spread and interview, just google it.)

Ricardo Tisci (creative director of Givenchy) said, "She's always been very feminine: superfragile, very aristocratic." He added that including a transgendered person in his campaign illustrates the "masculine-feminine dichotomy" he is now known for. - Quoted from Huffington Post

More food for thought: Bold Crossings of the Gender Line

What do you think? Do you feel that androgyny and the feature of transsexual models are actually good for the LGBT community, or do you feel that the fashion industry is just using this as yet another fad, for the shock value or to simply show off their clothes better since androgynous models are able to appeal to both genders?