Gentry de Paris: Tapping into the burlesque revival

Sometimes fashion takes you to the most unexpected places. This is what keeps me interested. Last night I found myself in the heart of Paris' red light district -- home to some salacious joints like les Folies Pigalle and le Moulin Rouge. Why would I show up in such a place in the middle of the week? Because when I received an email from Gentry Lane inviting me to her latest event in Paris, I knew I had to attend:

Because my brand is associated with all things vintage and glamorous, I decided to bring the best burlesque performers from Europe and the US together along with the amazing electro gypsy jazz band Caravan Palace for a night of burlesque that Paris hasn't seen since the likes of Josephine Baker.

Gentry Lane is one of the leading protagonists of the innerwear-as-fashion trend (in a different vein from VPL) that we have seen take off over the past few years. Last night, she cleverly combined this with the not-so-underground burlesque revival that has been sweeping the shores of many of the world's coolest cities. All this to highlight the world of Gentry de Paris, her loungewear and lingerie label....et voilà!  An event that brings people into Gentry's universe.

While I didn't know much about burlesque before last night's event, I certainly had taken note of Dita von Teese, whom I had photographed at Giles Deacon's A/W 2006 show at London Fashion Week in February 2006. At the time, Ms. Teese (and indeed the fact that there was a burlesque revival going on) was unknown to me. Then slowly but surely, I kept seeing more and more burlesque references (including a wave of coverage after Teese's divorce from goth rocker Marilyn Manson) which culminated in this invitation from Gentry.

As one of last night's dancers explained to me, the intelligent art of burlesque actually originates in Italy, where it was called burlesco. According to Wikipedia, burlesque "emerged as a populist blend of satire, performance art, and adult entertainment, that featured strip tease and broad comedy acts that derived their name from the low comedy aspects of the literary genre known as burlesque," in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Despite the trip to a rather unseemly part of Paris, it was well worth it. I bumped into Guido, Parisian boutique L'Eclaireur's most stylish salesperson, whose presence confirmed the ultra hip factor of the crowd in attendance. The performances were strong and varied, and the experience of tapping into the Burlesque renaissance -- mixed in with a little business of fashion -- was a great lesson learned on how to throw an authentic fashion event.

Only one question. Why not during Paris fashion week when editors and buyers would be busy, but at least they be around?

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