Hey everyone! I have recently returned to Hong Kong after spending a week in Paris. On the first day of my trip, I was invited to attend Stéphanie Coudert's first haute couture show.

The 39-year-old designer, from Belleville, is a boutique owner from Belleville. Before her second presentation, she only received 30 exclusive private clients at her boutique and is praised for her unique seamstress style. It took her 10 years to grow from her small boutique and debut at the very prestigious Haute Couture Fashion Week in Paris. 

The designer was inspired by the colours of the Sahara and I especially liked the contrasting colours on the look below. The fitted jungle green dress worked so well with the mustard yellow coat. The model did a great job to make the coat flow and the whole outfit looked extremely effortless and chic! If I had to choose 3 more words to describe the collection, I would pick: elegant, effortless and feminine. 

Like most Haute Couture designers, detail is key. By observing things like how the trousers are cuffed and flared, you can tell that the designer spent a lot of time on small details. The open-top hat (picture above) is a very memorable piece from the collection and, on  the whole, I believe the collection is extremely wearable.

If you've seen my previous posts, I'm all for monochromatic outfits and the above look stole all the attention. Coudert enhanced the outfit by incorporating small details on the cuffs of the jumper and the knees of the trousers. To add more 'ompf' to the look, the lower arm and turtleneck had an oversized fit. Shoulders of the coat remained narrow so to give a feminine touch to the long coat.  

A great advantage of this collection was that I didn't feel like it targeted a certain age group; I can picture a girl in her 20s wearing a cropped jacket (pictured above) but also a woman in her 60s wearing one of the longer gowns with a high neckline.

After the show, I walked across the street to catch the metro and saw a large crowd of paparazzi. Since it was Haute Couture week, the chances that it would be a fashion show were quite high. And I guess I got lucky! The place was packed with celebrities (J-Lo was there but I didn't see her!) and I arrived just before the shows started. I even caught Zahia Dehar walking in and, afterwards, I stood around to wait for the show to finish and ran into the amazing London-based blogger Susie Bubble! 

Knowing that the Haute Couture shows are quite dressy, I decided to wear my tailor-made wool suit which was perfectly fine for Paris in July. Inititally I thought it would be quite hot during the Summer months, but at that time it wasn't particularly sunny and so it was quite ideal. I then paired the suit with my favourite pair of black shoes - Prada Levitate Wingtips. I got them last year and they are a bit funny to walk in initially. But breaking them in, they are comfortable as the soles are literally 'Nike Air Max'! The blue definitely adds a colour pop to the whole outfit.

When the shows ended, I managed to push my way through the crowds and got a selfie with the famous French model and lingerie designer Zahia Dehar. As if this wasn't enough, I even met Hamish Bowles who is the European editor-at-large for the American edition of Vogue. One of my top films to watch post-exams was 'The September Issue'. Who would've thought that I would see Mr. Bowles a few days after watching that film! Everyone I met at the shows were extremely nice and it was quite a start to the week! More updates on more shows soon. Happy weekend!

#Selfies of the week

:: Outfit details ::

Top - Topman

Suit - Tailor-made in Hong Kong

Shoes - Prada (similar here)

Document Wallet - MCM

Stay tuned...#tbc