I Want To Be A Roitfeld

Kellina de Boer
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Dara Block
STYLE EDITOR

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Jessica Eritou
Renee Hernandez
Bernie Rothschild

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Julia Restoin-Roitfeld

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carine roitfeld: irreverent
THE LITTLE BLACK JACKET

I Want To Be An Alt

I Want To Be A Coppola

I Want To Be A Battaglia

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Entries in Emmanuelle Alt (27)

lundi
févr.062012

I Want To Be A Roitfeld... Or An Alt?

I love that one of my darling editors chose to wear her brand new IWTBAR tee for casual Friday at the office. I love especially the subtle irony with which she styled herself by wearing a Roitfeld tee with an Emmanuelle Alt look to the outfit, the white blazer, the black denim, the belt, the cuffs... total rock chic, j'adore.

I Want To Be A Roitfeld tee photograph © 2012 Anonymous. All Rights Reserved.

jeudi
févr.102011

I Want To Be A Roitfeld In The New York Times

The New York Times ran a story titled "New Star in the Front Row" breaking the sad news that Carine Roitfeld and Emmanuelle Alt are no longer on speaking terms following the change in management at Vogue Paris. On a much happier note, also included in the story was a link to I Want To Be A Roitfeld mentioned by none other than Cathy Horyn as an exemplar of the burgeoning "cult of the editor." I thank you so much, Cathy! To think that a writer of your caliber reads my words makes me giddy!

Text and image © 2011 The New York Times Company. All Rights Reserved.

jeudi
févr.032011

Vogue Paris: Then And Now

I am especially delighted to feature today's esteemed guest columnist—Pierre-Alban HF from The Crowd who approached me with the concept for this post and then kindly agreed to write it and supply the illustrations. Unbeknownst to me, Pierre is actually veritable French fashion royalty: his grandmother is Thérèse Chardin, formerly a model for Balmain and a top hairstylist in Paris renowned for influencing the trends of the day through her work for fashion magazines like Vogue Paris, Elle, and Marie Claire with photographers such as Helmut Newton, Guy Bourdin, Patrick Demarchelier, Bob Richardson, and Sacha Van Dorrsen, the subject of Pierre's article. Pierre co-founded The Crowd Magazine with his friend Kyla while in college, an e-magazine that provides fashion photos, editorials, and interviews with prominent industry insiders (see a list). Be sure to visit The Crowd to view Pierre's own amazing fashion photographs of our favorite editors on the streets of Paris. Je vous remercie, Pierre !

The Fashion Photography Of Sacha
By Pierre-Alban HF

If you wonder about the fashion environment that Vogue Paris editors like Carine Roitfeld and Emmanuelle Alt grew up in, or the atmosphere at fashion magazines when the two women started as junior editors, then you will love reading the book by fashion photographer Sacha. The 256-page book features fashion photographs and articles in both French and English as written by some of the most major editors of the time, namely Catherine Lardeur and Claude Brouet of French Marie Claire (who, along with the legendary editor Melka Tréanton of Dépèche Mode, notably launched the career of Jean-Paul Gaultier) and Nicole Crassat, the former editor-in-chief of Elle in the 1980s with whom Carine Roitfeld and Emmanuelle Alt worked! Carine and Emmanuelle have been trained by this breed of editors, the most powerful ones, who launched the careers of Azzedine Alaïa, Thierry Mugler, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Martin Margiela…

Sacha started her career in the 1960s at the French fashion magazine Elle. Her inimitable style garnered her work for other prestigious fashion publications such as Marie Claire (working there for more than 20 years and strongly influencing its image), but also Vogue UK, Vogue Hommes, Harpers Bazaar UK, Elle US, Stern, Dépeche Mode, The Sunday Times Magazine, and more recently, Bloom Magazine.... She also published a book about Christian Dior with Françoise Giroud. The rest, as they say, is history which you can read for yourself in Sacha's new book.

Pierre's grand-mère, Thérèse Chardin, as published in an Italian magazine from the 1970s

Published in January of this year by Editions du Chêne, Sacha : Photographe de mode will soon be out of stock on amazon.fr; if you have a chance to find a copy in a French book store, do not miss the amazing photographs shot for Yves Saint Laurent by Sacha. It is probably the best campaign any photographer has ever done for YSL (page 103). You will also see two photographs of my grandmother, Thérèse Chardin! She started as a model for Balmain (yes, the real Balmain) and then became a famous hairstylist with a salon on the Champs Elysées who obviously worked for Vogue! There are also photos of Carla Bruni at her best.

I believe it is the best fashion photography book of the decade, along with the title by Terry Richardson’s father Bob Richardson (another amazing Vogue photographer from the 1960s). I strongly recommend it if you want to be “in the know” and better understand today’s fashion. On my blog I published an interview I held with the former Marie Claire editor-in-chief Catherine Lardeur, Marie Claire and Elle fashion photographer Sacha, and celebrated Vogue hairstylist Thérèse Chardin, who united to discuss the past, present, and future of the industry. You will learn why they believe that “fashion is dead.”

Pierre's grand-mère, Thérèse Chardin, as photographed by her grandson recently

If you are lucky enough to live in Paris, you can attend the exhibition of Sacha's work at the Institut Néerlandais, near the Assemblée Nationale, 121 rue de Lille 75007, through March 20th, Tuesday to Friday 1 p.m.- 7 p.m. Or else fly in from New York, it’s worth it!

[Editor's note: One final link to the past, I developed a slight crush on Pierre's grandmother while editing the piece and I had to share with you this adorable clipping I discovered about her taken from The Montreal Gazette on 27 November 1964. I adore the writing style of fashion journalists of the era, my favorite part is when Madame Chardin admits that her newest hair style, while all the rage, may not be very practical but it is "so chic," spoken like a true Parisienne!]

Sacha : Photographe de mode images courtesy of amazon.com.
Text and photographs of Thérèse Chardin © 2011 Pierre-Alban HF. All Rights Reserved.

mercredi
févr.022011

I Want To Be A Roitfeld Is Here To Stay

There has been some concern among my readers that I Want To Be A Roitfeld has ceased to be. Au contraire mes jolies, IWTBAR will follow the Roitfeld family wherever they lead. However my intrigue grows as I learn about Emmanuelle Alt, hence a second web site is born—I Want To Be An Alt. I don't know about you, but I have a serious Vogue Paris habit that I am not ready to give up... even without Carine. Whichever you prefer, follow along for all the latest news in Parisian chic.

mardi
févr.012011

Introducing... I Want To Be An Alt

At first I stubbornly resisted this idea, but the day that Emmanuelle Alt was announced as the next editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris I had to look at myself and laugh. What did I happen to wear that day? Grey skinny jeans tucked into worn Harley Davidson boots, a blue and white pinstriped shirt untucked beneath a vintage black velvet jacket with the cuffs rolled... I was accidentally channeling the style of Emmanuelle Alt and not my idol, Carine Roitfeld! Clearly my heart belongs to the Roitfeld family but just as steadily as the refrain "I Want To Be A Roitfeld" played in my mind, my fascination with Emmanuelle Alt has grown and I am increasingly curious to see her Vogue Paris. I will always want to be a Roitfeld but at the same time a part of me is screaming, "I Want To Be An Alt!" Let us see where the freshly anointed queen of Parisian rock 'n' roll chic takes us...

Special thanks to Pierre-Alban HF from The Crowd for his kind permission to use this striking photograph of Emmanuelle, visit his blog for more lovely shots of Paris street fashion.

Emmanuelle Alt photograph © 2011 Pierre-Alban HF. All Rights Reserved.