Carine Roitfeld

I am under the impression that not many Mauritians know who Carine Roitfeld is, and so, my post today will be entirely devoted to this woman who I find is at the height of fashion, style and elegance. I saved up for months to buy her book, Irreverent, which is probably one of the most important books I own. It taught me about style, composition, and of course, how to really wear clothes. She made French Vogue the pinnacle of what Vogue stands for, as the editor in chief of the magazine for ten years.

Sorry for the delay! I was a little tired after yesterday night's book launch!

Vogue Paris, November 2005

Here's a short summary of her life from models.com:

Birth Date: September 19, 1954

Country of origin: France

Former Gucci consultant and freelance stylist - editor in chief of Vogue Paris from 2001-March 2011. Mother of Julia Restoin-Roitfeld and Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld, both also fixtures on the art and fashion scene. In December 2010, Carine announced her upcoming departure from Vogue Paris in 2011 after 10 years at the helm. In a statement released to British Vogue, Jonathan Newhouse (CEO of Condé Nast) said: “It’s impossible to overstate Carine’s powerful contribution to Vogue and to the fields of fashion and magazine publishing. Under her direction Vogue Paris received record levels of circulation and advertising and editorial success.” In 2012, Carine is expected to launch her own magazine called CR Fashion Book and is slated to be the subject of a documentary called Mademoiselle C.

Carine Roitfeld, shot by Hedi Slimane.

She used models of all shapes and sizes, of different ethnicities - she is in a league of her own, taking risks and pushing fashion to extremes.

Vogue Paris August 2003

I mean look at the above outfit! The cut out waist coat, exposing the bra, paired with an extremely lady like cardigan and skirt, turning the 50s on its head, transforming what the image we have of a housewife (note the plastic gloves!)

1997

Innocence of the white, pure, clean, mixed in with raw, cut up bloody meat. Red and white. Shot during the meat crisis in Britain, to top it all off!

2003

I think this is really a look that defined the late 90s/early 2000s, epitomised by Kate Moss. The slouchy PVC jacket, the long knitted scarf (contrast in materials!)

1997

The model is wearing a neck brace with jewellery. Enough said.

October 2008

Any photographer has a lot to learn from her on image composition. The length of the shoes and the length of the fringes, the black patent(?) back versus the matte heels, yellow and black...