Hey peeps! It has been awhile since I last posted something on the blog because well, life caught up with me. Shortly after I got back to Manila, I had to fly out again for a work- related meeting in Hong Kong. And although the trip was short, I was just as tired, not having really recovered yet from jetlag. The worst thing about all that fatigue was, while much of it was attributed to the fact that my body has not adjusted “regular programming,” I have also been suffering from a serious skin allergy condition yet to be cured. I have to get myself checked next week and prep for a blood test to find out what’s causing all the skin aggravation. My skin got 100% worse in Manila. Anyway I shan’t bore you with the gory details, but it has not been easy for me.
Anyway, back to the blog. I am about to get a site revamp in the next few weeks, finally. And that was also the reason why I decided to halt writing. Initially thought of shutting down the blog temporarily but I realized as well that there are still a few of you who come back to this site for reference purposes. So haha, there is still some traffic 🙂 And thank you for continuing to read what I write or wrote!
One of the few shows I look forward to in Paris is Jonathan Anderson’s for Loewe. Why? Because it is heaven for a bag hag, with all the bags that accompany almost every look. Let me first start off by sharing with you exactly what happened that morning. So I was finally reunited with my dear bro from another life, Simon, and he decided to accompany me that morning to Loewe to shoot street style. We all woke up extra early that morning– 7 am to be in fact, because the venue of Loewe’s show *at the UNESCO headquarters* was quite far from my place. I called for a car on Uber, accepting a surge in price of 2.5x. Oh yes, Uber in Paris with that rate, and during fashion week when it is crazy traffic, can be quite an experience on the wallet 🙁 I couldn’t seem to find the exact address on the Uber map– I did not bother to look at the invitation, my bad. I recalled it was Place de Fontenay. But only Avenue Fontenay was showing up. So I opted for that, thinking that “Place” met “plaza”, and that it should be within the avenue anyway. According to Uber, it would take at least 20 minutes to get there. Perfect. Because we left at 8:30. The show starts at 9:30am. We would be there quite early.
Halfway through the trip, I looked up from my phone and realized that this was not where we were supposed to be at. I felt that we kept getting farther from the Eiffel Tower. And I remembered the Eiffel Tower looked quite close from the venue. So I asked Simon for the invitation and then I saw it. It was Place de FontenOy. NOT FontenAy! Off By ONE letter! I quickly changed the destination address and the driver stops to tell me that the new address was all the way on the other side of town. We were already in the 11th arrondissement. And the other destination is on the 7th arrondissement. My jaw DROPS. Time check: 8:50am. Driver tells me it will take at least 30 minutes to go around and get to new destination.
I prayed soooooo hard to get to the venue on time. And thank goodness I did! There was a security line to enter the UNESCO complex, but it was apparently super long much earlier. So thank goodness it was already short by the time I got there. Within minutes, I was happily comfortable in my seat as the show began. While JWA delivered quite possibly one of the most sophisticated collection in Paris when it came to clothes, it was his accessories collection that stole the show. The Hammock and the Puzzle were still scene- stealers with new designs and materials (modern cheeky and traditional classy), with even one piece that highlighted craftsmanship.
Hammock bag:
In woven textile. Did you notice the pink knotted shoulder strap? 🙂
This woven Hammock was exquisite! I did not see this bag at the showroom and am hoping this will still go into commercial production. This was a very special bag.
A beautiful day with perfect blue skies for the Puzzle Bag, Spring Summer 2017 🙂
The Barcelona makes its presence felt with these new leather strips stitched in and designed into the body of the bag:
The same leather stitched- in concept was applied to the new 2017 Canoe bags:
And yay, JWA introduces more new bags, and this one is called the Zipper bag. This is a very classic shape, is easy to carry, and is a clear winner.
I also love this Cushion bag because of its slouchiness. It looks buttery soft! And I reckon this will make a perfect travel companion on the plane too! 🙂
JWA also introduced new shoulder straps for the coming season to complement most of the bags in the label’s lineup.
I find JWA’s design principles fascinating– every single piece from the bag collection seems to have been given a lot of thought before it was manufactured. My love for the Puzzle bag continues, and now the Hammock also won me over. I won’t be surprised if I succumb to a Barcelona, or a Zipper, or that Cushion soon 🙂
x
TheBagHag