Daily Front Row

2009 March 5

Puttin' On the Ritz

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Eva Herzigova
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(PARIS) You know it's a scene when Eric Wilson ends up in the third row. The Balmain show, which took place this afternoon in a basement ballroom at the Ritz, only invited 300 guests, and this hot-ticket invite drew the best of the best--no mere market editors need request.  KCD maestro Ed Filipowski managed the flood of A-list editors who stormed the side entrance himself, taking extreme care of the chosen few.

Once inside, the space was crammed with gorgeousness--and that's before the show even began. Suzy Menkes was wedged between Vogue editors Carine Roitfeld and Aliona Doletskaya, while Anna Wintour sat across the aisle in her first Balmain appearance in recent memory. (Usually, she arrives later in the week.) Curiously, Fabien Baron sat on the other side of the Russian Vogue-itrix. Next to him? Eva Herzigova. The two Marios--Testino and Sorrenti--were scattered throughout the aisle.

Naturally, designer Christophe Decarnin's two most loyal supporters--Roitfeld and Emmanuelle Alt--were front-row; the latter dressed in one of his military jackets. Julia Restoin-Roitfeld sat behind them in second row--that's how crowded it was.

French Vogue fave Anna Selezneva opened the show, which was governed by a late '70s/early '80s take on dressing. Disco tunes--"We Are Family," "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"--sent the message loudly and clearly. The acid-wash jeans were replaced with skinny black ones, by the way. (More on the clothes later.) As the show deigned to close, Doletskaya gave Menkes a thumbs-up, while Menkes scribbled with an ocean-blue pen that perfectly accompanied her teal sweater and sea green scarf.
ASHLEY BAKER