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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 May 1999 Issue No. 429 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 May 1999 Issue No. 429
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Books Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters A French fantasy
By Fayza Hassan
"At 7.30pm, the night air was heavy and quite warm, the traffic still fierce. Murad Street in Giza did not need the extra obstruction created by the police cars crowding the immediate surroundings of the French Embassy and barring the side street in front of the main entrance. Meanwhile, Cairo's haute société were honking their way to the nearest spot in their chauffeured limousines and were being disgorged onto the uneven footpath. Exquisitely clothed ladies tottered dangerously on their high heels, sometimes assisted by attentive companions, shouting instructions to their drivers concerning nonexistent parking space, before disappearing through the gates of the embassy, where they surrendered their carton to a charming group of youngsters who checked their names on long lists. The French gala dinner organised in the framework of Francexpo'99 and hosted by the Ambassador of France and Madame Jean-Marc de la Sablière -- the proceeds of which would be donated to charitable works patronised by the French Embassy -- was off to an exemplary start.
Dior's collection with (l-r) Lefebvre, Dior's ME representative, de la Sablière; the Princesse d'Orléans, Dior's representative in Spain
Inside, in turn-of-the-century reception rooms, champagne flutes were extended to the guests, who sipped and chatted excitedly while awaiting the main event, the spring-summer 1999 haute couture collections of France's most celebrated designers. When dinner was announced, groups streamed towards the garden, vying for the best tables until they realised that they would be afforded a complete view of the catwalk no matter where they sat.
Clockwise from top: Lacroix; Scherrer; Gaultier
photos: Nasr AttiaAt the bottom of the garden, a dainty white building, the chancery, shone bright with lights, while the garden was plunged in darkness except for a few flickering candles unevenly scattered on the tables.
As soon as the guests were seated, a gentle breeze -- extinguishing the candles, but no one minded -- began to play in the branches of the royal palm trees and the jacarandas, as if orchestrated by Belloir and Jallot, the world-famous company responsible for arranging the setting. French choreographer Bernard Trux, who was in charge of the show, had planned it with mathematical precision. Each dinner course was preceded by 12 ethereal models, showing 12 creations from one of the five couturiers: in all, 60 little numbers to admire and covet.
The spectacle was a feast for the eyes, if totally unrelated to the practical realities most of us deal with every day. Stepping out of Trux's dream, the girls, barely nubile and all with matching features -- the same height, almost painfully thin, with small, neat heads and large eyes -- were unencumbered by gravity. They seemed closely related to the bright birds of a magic jungle as they lightly made their way down the uneven catwalk (long sheets of plastic stretched on the grass), preened themselves for a brief moment on their stiletto heels and in the extravagant outfits designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier, Jean-Louis Scherrer, Christian Lacroix, Christian Dior and Pierre Balmain, then, catching the wind in their wings, flew away towards the Chancery.
In 1901, fashion commentator Gaston Jollivet celebrated the advent of the shorter skirt in one of the leading fashion magazines of the period. "With the short skirt, freedom will be complete," he wrote. "[Women's] steps will be more agile, more nimble. It will be a pleasure to walk without sweeping [with one's skirt] vegetable peelings, papers and all the dirt of the sidewalk."
This season's collections were not marked by such mundane preoccupations, however. To make up for some of the short-short morning and afternoon skirts and the abundance of bare abdomens, the long evening dresses featured metre-long trains of sheer lace, plumes and hand-embroidered details, clearly hinting that the wearer of such a beautifully crafted oeuvre should arrange for her arrival and departure to take place by flying carpet.
As the feast ended, the guests, blinking the glitter away, slowly retraced their steps to the hustle and bustle of the city which they had been mercifully allowed to forget, living for a few hours in a world inhabited only by creatures of grace and glamour.
