AÏDA ML.

"There’s barely a strand of the modern media that the Kardashian Wests haven’t been able to master, and for good reason: Kanye is an amazing performer and cultural provocateur, while Kim, through her strength of character, has created a place for herself in the glare of the world’s spotlight, and it takes real guts to do that.” - Anna Wintour

To each day his story, today it's Kim Kardashian and Kanye West being on the cover of Vogue.

We all know that a Vogue cover is something that Kim has been wanting and trying to get for a long time now and as she tweeted her dream became true.

If you're on Twitter you also know that this was today's hot topic. Some people are baffled, some hate it, some like it, some want to frame it but everyone is talking about it. (let's say 80% of Twitter)

The position that I saw the most on my timeline is the "what did you do Anna Wintour, now sextape stars are on your cover don't you know that you run Vogue and that you just ruined it?" one.

My personal position is "nice play". This cover is as much a win for Vogue as it is for KimYe.

Let's start by the obvious party, Kim & Yeezus, they wanted their cover, they got it and people are talking about it/them and they are proving they deserve the title of #WorldsMostTalkedAboutCouple.

Kanye West said it himself in an interview on Power 106 "Me and Kim are in the exploitation business. We get paid to exploit ourselves. I'm [going to] give my daughter the opportunity to choose when she wants to be exploited." Us, talking about him is a win for them. Whether you like this cover or not, if you're expressing your opinion you are helping their brand. The more awareness there is around their brand, the more opportunities they have, the money they make and they win.

Kim and Kanye are brands and, whether or not we like it, they drive traffic. A contouring tutorial will get more views if it says "How to contour like Kim Kardashian", even the act of contouring became a thing because Kim K. is doing it.

Which brings us to the second party: Vogue, and why this choice is not necessarily a loss.

Let me repeat, Kim and Kanye West drive traffic. As Kanye said it they get paid to exploit themselves and they do it well which is why Kim was able to become famous of off a sextape and a body.

Vogue might lose sales because people don't like their mindset/them but more people are going to buy the magazine because Kim and Kanye are on the cover. Yes, the Kardashians are a bad cover choice according to the numbers but Anna Wintour is willing to take the risk plus she added Kanye as an insurance.

But the magazine might also be able to avoid suffering from this choice because this is the Spring issue of Vogue. Actually, there's two things here: first, this is Vogue, #1 Fashion Magazine in the world. The article link might be from 2011 but I'm pretty sure this is still today's reality (print audience: 12.3 millions) since 2013 was Vogue's most profitable year ever.

Second thing: this is the Spring issue. In my mind, if I had a limited budget and was able to afford magazines every now & then, "now & then" would be Autumn & Spring. Because it marks the beginning of new seasons & these are the best issues.

This, in my opinion, is why Anna Wintour gave Kimmie her cover for this month. April is not a problem month and even is she loses with this choice, she's not really losing because she's still getting the Spring issues buyers + the fans of KimYe.

Also, could you imagine having a fly buzz next to your ear for 3 years? At some point, you're going to have to find a way to make it stop and, for me, Anna Wintour got tired of hearing about it and just did it to get it over with.

Love it or hate it, this cover is a win on both side.

The only situation where I can see this playing badly is if people decide to boycott the upcoming issues of Vogue because of it but this brings us to a few lines above: this is Vogue.

Plus, they can put a Beyoncé on the cover and win people's heart back.

xoxx

sidebar: there's a hashtag and the word "selfie" on the cover, maybe we can accept that a woman got famous off of a sextape.

"The medium is the message" - Marshall McLuhan

For the presentation of the F/W 2014-15, Stefan Lubrina - who has worked as a metteur en scène for Chanel for the past 20 years - recreated an entire supermarket in le Grand Palais called CHANEL SHOPPING CENTER.
The quote up there is a flashback from my communication classes that came to me as soon as I saw it.

The effort and attention to detail that went into setting up this very special runway is mind blowing (which is why this article is photo-heavy) and very inspiring. The packaging, the banners and displays all have that Coco Chanel touch with names such as "Boîtes à Bobos de Coco" for a first aid kit, "Coco Carbone" and so on. I also love the fact that the baskets are wrapped in chains very similar to the ones on the classic Chanel quilted handbag.

This decor is even more clever because it makes the clothes "real". Instead of presenting them as the Haute Couture pieces that they are, it presents them in an everyday life setting and makes us the witness of the models life. It shows us that these clothes can be high fashion but still rocked on a day to day basis. (Not for all of them, obviously, but you get the idea)

I'm actually LOVING the following items from the collection.

Sorry for the pictures overload but I had to add these two!

NY Times | Chanel | Chanel | Metro News UK | The Coveteur

xoxx

If there is one reason why I'd love to be in Paris right now it's to be able to go see the Azzedine Alaïa exhibit.

I've seen picture of it flying aroung Instagram and saw it again while I was in CDG for my layover and the only thing I wanted to do was find a way to get out of the airport to see it with my own eyes.

Azzedine Alaïa dresses are simply gorgeous, they're made to fit the woman curves perfectly and the way they are displayed at this exhibit is to die for.

if you're in Paris, you might want to go see it at the Galliera Museum before January 26th.

{sour ces}

Once again I've been very busy! Ever since my last post I've been doing the public relations for Black Fashion Week Montréal, it was an amaaaazing and extremely rewarding experience and I can't wait to do it again for the next edition. Doing the PR for Black Fashion Week Montréal meant waking up at 5am for an interview at 6am with CBC Radio One but also being on the cover of Montréal's Gazette and having stories on Metro Montréal, Radio Canada International, National Post, StyleListCanada, StyleList Québec, Journal de Montréal, HuffingtonPost Québec, GlobalNews, Montreal.TV, LouLou and interviews on CBC's CinqASix, Medium Large & Penelope McQuade to only name a few plus a partnership with ELLE Québec. So I'm very very very happy. I've also had my first up-do done by Adama Paris for the event and loved it! Now I just need to find a way to do it myself. For the two days of BFWM, around 1800 people attended the event and the finale by Elie Kuame was just breathtaking. Right after Black Fashion Week Montréal, I started an internship at MAKE UP FOR EVER, I've been wanting to work here for two years now and I'm really happy that I get to and so far I am loving it!

I've asked a friend to write a story about Black Fashion Week, it should be up soon ;)

xoxx

Mardi dernier j'ai eu la chance de faire partie de quelques chanceuses qui ont eu l'occasion de découvrir le tout premier parfum de HARRICANA Par Mariouche en exclusivité.

Je n'étais jamais allée à la boutique HARRICANA et j'ai vraiment adoré le bâtiment (qui était une ancienne banque) et la façon dont l'espace été aménagé. J'ai d'ailleurs pris quelques photos que vous pouvez voir ici.

Revenons en au sujet principal, le parfum.

Je suis une grande consommatrice de parfum, j'aime sentir bon et quand j'aime un parfum c'est l'amour fou jusqu'à la dernière goutte mais j'étais tellement loin de me douter de tout le travail qu'il y a derrière la confection de ces flacons qui ornent ma commode.

C'est pourquoi j'ai trouvé super intéressant que la présentation soit faite avec Isabelle Michaud, fondatrice de la maison de parfumerie Monsillage, et Mariouche Gagné. Ça nous permettait non seulement d'en savoir plus sur le processus qui a permit d'aboutir à la création du parfum et d'avoir le point de vue des deux femmes qui ont travaillé dessus.

Il leur a fallu des huiles essentielles venant des quatre coins du monde, un an et demi et 59 tests pour arriver à ce résultat: un parfum frais qui sent vraiment la nature et qui en plus de ça a une odeur un peu différente en fonction de la personne qui le porte.

J'ai eu la chance de repartir avec un petit échantillon mais je compte retourner à la boutique HARRICANA dès la fin des fêtes pour m'offrir le parfum qui est à 95$.

Ou peut-être un peu plus tôt pour en faire cadeau à quelqu'un.