L'ECLAIREUR

One of the highlights of my Paris trip was being shown around the cult boutique L'eclaireur. They have six stores in Paris alone and are Farfetch's biggest retailer; what sets them apart is that the stores are designed by artists, not architects. The Sévigné was designed by Studio Arne Quinze; with the interior made of layered cardboard, covered with silver car paint and laid next to television screens set in the material; the space certainly is unique. The walls are also interactive; pull of a leaver and a screen comes up to reveal a clothes rail beneath or a hidden mirror, designed so that every buyer will have a totally different experience when shopping here each time. In this store you will find every favourite from Celine to Givenchy to Haider to Ann, the buying is impeccable. Aside from the Demeulemeester, the furniture in the space was a particular highlight for me, I can't remember which architect it was designed by, but the giant pony hair morphed couch deserves a space in my future home, I think. I'm looking forward to discovering the other five stores when I go back to Paris!

FORMS

FORMS is a young label, established in Feb 2010.
Designer Anastasiya Komarova is an architect and developed FORMS as a way of researching composition, form and plastic.

Each is piece is unique and exclusive in shape and colour, taking 2-3 days to make by hand.

I'm completely obsessed with the white cross bag; they look like bags that need to be touched. Quite Margiela-esque too!

You can buy online from Moscow's LeForm or email Anastasiya directly through the FORMS blog.

Sacha Goldenheel Award 2010

How insanely incredible are these shoes!? They are the works of MA students at the Fashion Institute Arnhem (FIA) in the Netherlands. They have a web blog you can check out, see some of the inspiration behind the designs.
The winning shoe of the Golden Heel awards will go on sale from January 2010!

Check the shoes live at the Amsterdam Tassen museum from November 18th until January

I can't decide which one I want to win, they are all so breathtaking.
The first three are my favourite but maybe number 3 deserves to win because of that heel.

Antwerp

Finally my photos from Antwerp! Sorry for there being so many, I fell in love with the city, it was so so beautiful! We went to Ghent too which was also incredible, so sorry for the heavy architecture/art photos, but hey, its culture!
I definitely want to go and do an internship in Antwerp next year, the fashion and the way they view fashion there is out of this world! And everyone speaks English of course.

Super cute tortoise called Turtle/Mildred that lived in Amy's garden, he was so glad to come in from the rain.

GHENT

So beautiful!

Aaaand I hate beer, but Beligian beer is so yummy! I've become some sort of beer expert all of a sudden, in Ghent I think all we did was drink beer and look at architecture.. although I think that was all there was to do!

BACK TO ANTWERP!

The Ann Demeulemeester store, It had this tiny sign, you could walk past it and have no idea it was there!

Strapping my purchases onto the bike! She put my jacket and shoes into a cute little fabric bag for me, so helpful when I was having to fight my way accross the underground on my way back.

The peer was beautiful! We got some patries from a bakery and sat and watched all the huge ships come in and dock.

The Ann D. fashion week showroom was held right behind us in this huge old warehouse

Cheesy smiles and tea at this really cute café

This surreal ride was outside Antwerp central station, Anvers. It was so amazing! There was a film inside the station showing it being made. It was all iron, and bugs and insects, the kids loved it!

back at home with my purchases....

On sale at Ann D. These shoes are so amazing! They are the comfiest shoes I have ever worn! You can play around with the laces too.

Isabel Marant silk crepe dress

This dress was bought at Labels Inc. in Antwerp, only €50

I will do another post dedicated to all my purchases, later on today. No architecture, I swear!