Paris! Elie Saab internship 1

Elie Saab Haute Couture Autumn Winter 2012-13

Day 1: Today was one of the most unreal, incredible experiences of my life.  First of all everyone got to go to the famous Paris trade show Who's Next and walk around looking at all of the designers and trends for the upcoming season.  I have been a little disapointed by many of the boutiques I have been going into, nothing very interesting catching my eye, but everything here was so innovative and fresh.  There wasn't much time to look around though because the Elie Saab haute couture internship started today!  The four students and our professor set off for the showroom.

The streets of Paris were covered in snow, slush and ice today because of the snowstorm the last night.. and I guess cleaning off the sidewalks is not typical in Paris because about 90% of them were covered the entire day, making all walking of the day very slow and scary trying not to slip and fall.  

We finally arrived at the gates, where you could see the Elie Saab plaqued sign feet away.  We were let into the beautiful building, with rooms of high ceilings, chandeliers and mirrors covering the walls.  There was another intern from Lebanon who speaks fluent English, French and Lebanese- definitely helpful when many on the team speak mainly french.  Our first task was to unpack the couture collection that had just arrived.  Huge suitcases were filled with the gowns along with many pairs of beautiful heels made of lace and satin and the classic.  The finale wedding dress had its own suitcase, a beautiful beaded bodice with abundant amount of tule- still not finished!  We were than responsible for steaming all of the dresses while taking turns to go to lunch.  This was a scary task- not wanting to ruin any of the garments with water stains or heat but also being frustrated with the amount of time it would take to get the creases out of the heavy china silk.  When going downstairs to the kitchen there was a rack of dresses outside, one being marked off for Celine Dion... I still think this whole thing is a dream.  Elie Saab arrived with his wife and son and walked around the room a few times looking at everything and chatting.  

By 6 PM the casting call began with model after model coming in to walk and be photographed, some being chosen to try on gowns for the stylist.  A few hours passed, dressing different girls in the same 3 gowns, sliding on heels and buckling them up and then taking them off for the next girl, and continuously being so grateful and amazed by my surroundings.  It was very interesting to see the process models go through, most of them being my age or younger from all over the world I can't begin imagine the amount of pressure they must have been feeling, many of them oogling over the dresses if they got the chance to try one on.

The dresses are so ornate and delicate, each with beautiful & intricate beading on perfectly designed lace.  Every one is a work of art.  This internship opportunity was the main reason I wanted to participate on this trip to Paris and I feel so lucky to be able to have gotten this 5 day couture experience with one of the most talented designers in the world!