Christian Lacroix at Paris Haute Couture, July 2009 | Source: NY Daily News

One long-time designer is conspicuously absent from the Paris Fashion Week schedule for Spring/Summer 2010. Indeed, Christian Lacroix’s Haute Couture show in July (pictured above) was billed as possibly his last fashion show ever. But, while rumours continue to swirl of would-be white knight investors to save Lacroix — the latest is Hassan bin Ali al-Nuaimi, a nephew of the ruler of Ajman — BoF investigates the wider implications for protecting a ‘Culture of Luxury.’

PARIS, France — News this week about a potential rescue of Christian Lacroix brought to light the remarks France’s culture minister Frédéric Mitterrand made this summer, saying the loss of the couture house would be a “cultural disaster.” He added that he was willing to help find a solution for Christian Lacroix.

This may no longer be necessary. Still, it raises some interesting questions about the cultural role of luxury. European governments are, in principle, prohibited from supporting certain industries or sectors to the disadvantage of others. This follows from EU competition rules on state aid. However, the importance of promoting culture is recognised as an exemption.

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Givenchy A/W 2009, courtesy of Coutorture

PARIS, France — Sitting through the Paris collections, I was struck by how unappealing much of it seemed.

I find that the editors who attend shows season after season get caught up in analysing a brand in terms of its recent history. Has it moved on, they ask? Where is it going? The ultimate compliment they pay is: “I’d wear that.”

Now that I’m slightly removed from the day-to-day of it all, I tend to sit there and think the slightly more practical: Would I pay for that? And I have to say, much of it I wouldn’t.

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Autumn/Winter 2009

PARIS, France — As the Autumn/Winter 2009 collections draw to a close, it’s time to share some impressions of the fashion week season that was.

Yes, there were some amazing fashions to behold, in particular Lanvin (which unfortunately I did not see in person), Junya Watanabe and Rick Owens in Paris, Christopher Kane and Erdem in London, and Marc Jacobs and Proenza Schouler in New York. There were also some delightful new finds (at least for me) in menswear from Patrik Ervell, Robert Geller and Tim Hamilton in New York, and in London from Carolyn Massey.

But fashion week isn’t just about the clothes. It’s also an informal, four-week defacto industry conference held in between the shows and at the end of long days of schlepping around four of the most exciting cities in the world. This season, though the overall mood was out-of-the-ordinary (part sombre, part denial, part confusion about the economy), there were still plenty of  things off the runway that seemed to come up in conversation over and over again.

This is what people were talking about in London, New York and Paris during the Autumn/Winter 2009 collections.

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Cavalli insignia projected on new rue St Honoré flagship

PARIS, France — On Saturday night, at the grand opening fete for Roberto Cavalli’s new Paris flagship on ritzy rue St Honoré, they were giving out large, plastic-coated goodie bags in the bold, signature leopard print for which Mr. Cavalli has become known over the years. Most recently, he used this to great success in his collaboration with H&M, which effectively introduced the Cavalli brand and aesthetic to a whole new generation of consumers.

However, there was one significant oddity about the goodie bags in question: there were no goodies. Except for a glossy white magazine with the brand’s latest, over-styled advertising campaign featuring Daria Werbowy, there was nothing inside.

While this did seem to say something about the state of the economy, as goodie bags are usually teeming with freebies and samples, even more, the empty bags seemed to be a real-life metaphor for the new store itself. Behind all of the sparkle and bling, and even with hundreds of people packed in side, the 8,640-square foot emporium felt a bit empty and soulless.

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