Alaia display / 57 avenue Montaigne, Paris

Some designers push the boundaries of their work so far that everything that appears on the runway has a taste of couture, upon them all, Azzedine Alaia is the master.

Alaia is unique and unique are his designs, you can spot an Alaia dress from (almost) miles away and this season’s limited couture edition might be spottable from the moon.

Laser cuts and innovative fabrics, dresses and shirts are all about pleats. In black or white, those precious looks are available only in 15 boutiques all over the world, all chosen by monsieur Alaia himself.

GET A PIECE OF HISTORY HERE

Four decades of Alaia in four pictures :

The 80′s / Alaia and Grace Jones

The 90′s / Bjork wearing custom made Alaia enveloppe shirt on cover of her album Post .

A new century…. The Iconic Naomi in Alaia

Michelle Obama…

THE INSPIRATION

We all know it, even if we love our all black outfits, Spring/Summer makes you wanna go fresh and fall for colors, but this spring things get wild.

Wild as the tropical forest and the all over prints, the Aloha look takes its roots from the beauty and diversity of nature. Imagine an endless white sand beach at noon and the shadows of palm trees, flowers with colours so bright that you can’t take your eyes off them.

The trend also refers strongly to the west coast and the surfers, their laid back attitude and hawaiian shirts.

And think about the ultimate island girl: Brooke Shields in 80′s “Blue Lagoon”.

Brooke Shields in Blue Lagoon

THE RUNWAYS

Sometimes trends just come out of nowhere and whitin two weeks you see the whole city getting obssessed with a colour or an accessory.

But for this season we got a warning from the shows, the Tropics are on !

Balmain take the flowers and mix them with gold, the island girl is here taking a trip to Vegas, in her suitcase: sex appeal and confidence. Meanwhile at Givenchy, the prints make our heads spin, adding spice to an ultra chic goth look, and Burberry Prorsum plays with strong colours that take us to far away lands, where the sun always shines.

Balmain Spring 12

Givenchy Prefall 12   

Burberry Prorsum Spring 12

Now the sun may not always shine in our cities but that’s the fun of the islands trend: let’s see how the tropics get downtown….

HOW TO WEAR THE TROPICS?

First you have to remember the mood of the tropics: TAKE IT EASY! The Aloha trend is not to be taken too seriously meaning that the point is here to put some colours on and live your life as an everyday  hollyday (but don’t forget to go to work!).

To do so, choose how you wanna play it. Like Beyonce, you can choose to go for a casual chic style, a blouse with printed trousers (Stella Mc Cartney) and neon heels. It’s easy it’s fresh and works for day and night.

As Jessie J you can scream tropics and wear it from head to toe, perfect to get attention and show how confident you are with your style.

And if you prefer to play with color blocks do as shown by this stylish stranger spotted by the expert eye of the Sartorialist.

Beyonce

Jessie J
 

 

Spotted byThe Sartorialist

NOW LET YOURSELF GO AND SHOP OUR TROPICS SELECTION !

The P2 Handbracelet. Gaydamak and Pristine team up to create an exclusive handbracelet, black stalagmites made of gold and diamonds.

SHOP HERE

Soft leather and perfect size for this mini cabas that will help you carry all your everyday belongings with natural elégance. It’s name? CHYC as in ” your bag is so chyc!”

CHYC UP HERE!

Check out the Jbrand x montaigne market super skinny jeans. 5 exclusive “second skin” denim, from icy white to nighty black, those limited edition items won’t last forever…

GET IT NOW !

With new name come new ideas and good news, the Gaydamak sisters and their unconventionnal vision upon jewellery are here to stay. We can’t wait to see the treasures Katia and Sonia are crafting for us.  Do you remember the handbracelet ?

SHOP GAYDAMAK

SHOP THE RED ALERT

Every now and then we’ll introduce you to a member of our dream team and to her/his personnal pick from the shop. Mixing one of the season’s item with their day look, they will show you how easy it is !

Believe it or not but Stephanie came in this morning with those Alaia sandals and kept them all day, running all around the place and providing high (5 inches) quality service! When I asked her for her pick she went straight to the Carven tulip dress : “I love it !! I already have it in black and lets’s face it I have to get it in grey as well, it’s the perfect summer dress! “

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You can get the “perfect summer dress” HERE and if you wanna go for the Stephanie total look, you can treat yourself with the Alaia sandals and belt, HERE and HERE.

Un look d’american sweat punk et une invitation aux températures estivales, voici le short imprimé étoiles Current Elliott. De la plage aux pelouses des festivals, un must have!

SHOP HERE

This is some kind of rebirth for Snow St Barth isn’t it?

Yes! in 2010 when I found out I was pregnant I decided to slow down the Snow project to take care of my baby. Two years after, my son is an everyday blessing and I thought it was time to get Snow back!

Snow from St Barth, what an uncommon association of ideas…

I’ve been living in St Barth for 12 years and when we were working on the collection we thought about the idea of something unconventionnal and the two sides of things . You know, like  the fact that a woman can be strong but still needs to feel surrounded, or the concept of beauty and ugly, and after all why not Snow from St Barth?!

So, Snow from St Barth is a really personnal project.

Almost selfish, even ! (she laughs). I was constantly looking for the perfect jacket or the perfect trousers, the ones you love and wear season after season and never end up out of trend.

The perfect collection for the perfect woman?

Nobody’s perfect! I think that nowadays  women need “real clothes for real life”. They all have children and a stessfull job, and still they have and want to look good from the office to the romantic dinner with their husband. That’s why the new Snow St Barth capsule collection is all about those made in France essentials pieces, all in leather. Leather can be chic, rock, even a bit naughty, depending how you wear it and how you mix it with other clothes. And we all know that the more you wear it the more leather ages beautifully! So yes I hope many women will get their own timeless piece, the one they can  take with them everywhere, the one wich makes them feel confident and becomes a little part of themselves!

Liliane is wearing the smoking jacket in black

SHOP HERE

Lancée en 2007 et après deux ans de mise en sommeil, Snow from St Barth est de retour . La collection imaginée par Liliane Jossua s’adresse à une femme qui fort de son caractère jongle entre une vie réglée au millimètre et une garde robe où l’approximatif n’a pas sa place. Rencontre avec la fondatrice de montaigne market .

Snow from St Barth, la renaissance?

Oui! En 2010 quand je suis tombée enceinte j’ai décidé de mettre la collection Snow en sommeil pour m’occuper de mon bébé. Deux ans après, mon fils est un bonheur de tous les jours et je me suis dit qu’il était temps que Snow se reveille!

Snow from St Barth, en voila une association d’idées intriguante…

Je vis a St Barth depuis 12 ans et quand nous avons commencé à travailler sur la collection nous avions en tête l’idée de l’inconventionnel, de la dualité, des contraires. Comme le fait qu ‘une femme forte a aussi besoin de se sentir entourée, ou le concept du beau et du laid, et pourquoi pas de la neige à St Barth ?

C’est une collection très personnelle donc ?

Presque égoïste même ! (elle rit ) J’étais à la recherche de la veste parfaite ou du pantalon parfait, celui qu’on porte saison après saison qui traverse les tendances sans jamais être démodé.

La collection parfaite pour la femme parfaite?

Nobody’s perfect!  Je pense que de nos jours les femmes ont besoin d’un vrai vestiaire pour la vrai vie . Elles ont toutes des enfants et un job stressant et elles se doivent et veulent aussi être à leur avantage, du bureau jusqu’au diner romantique avec leur mari. La nouvelle capsule Snow ce sont des pièces essentielles en cuir, fabriquées uniquement en France. La chose intéressante avec le cuir c’est qu’ il a ce coté à la fois chic et sulfureux qu’ on peut plus ou moins accentuer selon son envie, et aussi plus on le porte plus le cuir se patine et deviens beau. J’espère vraiment que beaucoup de femmes trouverons dans la collection leur propre intemporel, la pièce qu’on emporte partout, qui vous rend confiant et deviens une petite part de vous même !

Liliane porte la veste smoking en black.