Remember back in May 2016 when a video of ballerinas turning up to Jason Derulo's "If It Ain't Love" was everywhere? (Either you saw it on Instagram, or on Good Morning America...) Well, those were Hiplet ballerinas from Chicago's Creative Media & Digital Culture Program, led by artistic director and creator Homer Bryant. Hiplet (pronounced hip-lay) fuses classical ballet techniques with hip-hop and urban dance styles.
And today? The Hiplet ballerinas showed up at Paris fashion week, opening the Moncler Gamme Rouge show, designed by Giambattista Valli. According to the brand, the Moncler Gamme Rouge spring 2018 collection was inspired by contemporary dance, so it invited CMDC to perform in true Hiplet style. Videos from Instagram show the ballerinas dancing to Missy Elliot's "Lose Control" in front of larger-than-life disco balls. Another clip showed dancers grooving to Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You."
WHAT: Valentino RTW Fall/Winter 2016. The Valentino show was all about Ballet and specifically, Modern Ballet/Modern Dance. Models sauntered down the runway in ballet shoes (most of them), and lots of tulle tutu-like skirts, leotard tops and exquisitely sequined dresses.
WHAT: Chanel RTW Fall/Winter 2016. No UBER multi-million dollar set; no Chanel supermarket; no Chanel Casino; no Chanel Airport terminal. None of that. Just a runway and clothes. Very Chanel clothes, as usual. Lots of tweed, lots of pearls, lots of Chanel equestrian-like boots and 60's-like Stewardess hats (well, there was a little of that Chanel Airline, I guess!). If there was any theme at all, it was all about the multi-layered pearl necklaces. It's Chanel, after all.
WHAT: Chanel RTW Spring/Summer 2016. Karl Lagerfeld--and his no-money-limits Chanel bosses--turned Paris' Grand Palais into a "Chanel Airport Terminal" where models checked into the fantasy all-Premium Class (one presumes) Chanel Airline flights.
Grand Palais Terminal: Chanel Spring/Summer 2016
As someone who has spent plenty of hours at an airport terminal waiting for their delayed flight, I can attest to the fact that I pass the time by staring at the usually not-so good display of fashion on display at the airport. Just because it's such an awful place to have to go to (hello security!), doesn't mean you should get a pass for dressing so terribly. And that was Lagerfeld's point.
Checking In?--Chanel Spring/Summer 2016
His Spring/Summer 2016 collection for the House of Chanel was a way of showing what you should wear--or at least that's what he said. PS: It would be nice if we all had the luxury of traveling on a $15,000 First Class transatlantic flight. Maybe we would dress this way. But oh well, one can pretend!
Pilot Love: The hottest pilots a fake airline has ever seen: Chanel Spring/Summer 2016
First Class Attendees:
Singer/songwriter/fashion diva Janelle Monae pretending to push her own luggage cart--Chanel Spring/Summer 2016
Mom and Daughter C'est Chic: French singer/actress/model and former Johnny Depp main squeeze (for 13 years!) Vanessa Paradis (left) and her 16-year-old daughter Lily Rose-Depp (a budding actress, of course). PS: Lily looks EXACTLY like her mother.
Photographer Mario Testino and Vogue's Anna Wintour look on as 19-year-old Kendall Jenner saunters pass them--Chanel Spring/Summer 2016
