The Joys of Paris. The Land of Lilliput. Stuck in the Metro Doors and my Hunch from Notre Dame.

There was a sort of calm on Thursday for the opening day of Premier Classe.  It was slow on arrival but it gave me the opportunity to rush through and see clearly what was on offer.  The impression was that the accessory area was smaller but the footwear sector had grown.

I was in the Land of Lilliput.  The entire shell scheme was no higher than my dark roots, and although the jewellery designers liked the low compact walls around their booths, handbags and footwear complained that the importance of branding their collection was restricted.  Making a big impression at this large exhibition is what it is all about.  My eye level was more to the floor than straight ahead. 

I met a delightful footwear designer Patricia  Blanchet very small feminine heels and some sparkly ankle boots to trip the lights fantastic in.  I want her to come to Pure and show with us in the UK.  Beverly Feldman also looked enticing.  More about them from my trip to Micam.

Bijorhca and Prêt opened the following day.  I adored the Trend presentation in the middle of  Bijorhca , magic carpets held high with strips of lighting tubes and displaying pieces of jewellery well signed and edited.  I was invited to the Swarovski Crystal party and had a jolly time amidst the jewels of the forthcoming season.  My photo with Kish Vasa from Krystal is only a small taster of his work using  Swarovski  Crystal.   Kish Vasa  is a delight and created some beautiful designed pieces.  He is showing at Pure in February 2010. Watch out for him.

Prêt has re-edited and they brought accessories downstairs. I was not inspired and found it rather dull.  However  I had a charming half hour with Khuram from UNZE footwear. A friendly open stand  which displayed gorgeous shoes.  They have some exciting news which thrilled me, but you will have to wait for this scoop!  The Box was great and well edited.

I had a most enjoyable and productive time with my colleague Maxine Brown and our sense of humour saw us through the long days and 5 shows.  Maxine had a habit most evenings of getting stuck in the Metro doors but was luckily rescued by over anxious French gentlemen, oh la la you English Ladies!!!

I managed to take Maxine to see Notre Dame at night and we both wished our lovers (mine has not been found yet)were with us to share the special experience of the shadow dancing on the buildings and on the most imposing Cathedral.  The gargoyles watched us closely as we hobbled over the cobbles – we were tired of walking but our hearts were uplifted.  We said cheerio to the Twinkling Eiffel Tower and as we declared “ what a beautiful city Paris was” we thought London had a special magic  and our bridges had style and charisma too.  It was the moonlight.

I visited “Messing Around” the new located footwear show.  No carpet, quite small and again back to Lilliput land with the shell scheme.  It had an industrial  atmosphere.  I found several interesting new footwear brands, Eject, Prophecy, Chocolate .

News on GDS, Düsseldorf in a couple of days.  Sparkles,  Vicky