Parafection & Ecole Lesage

Lesage - Embroider
The middle picture is of the beads they had in storage there were hundreds

Parafection, loosely translated means "for the love of", and is the name of the company created in 2002 by Chanel to support 7 independant atéliers d'art. These 7 workshops have long been suppliers to Chanel and many other fashion houses, particularly for their couture and sometimes for their ready to wear lines. Chanel made the decision to form this umbrella company to avoid potentially losing these suppliers which they rely on for their expertise in different areas.

Included in these 7 workshops are a bootmaker, a costume jeweler, a feather and flower maker, a fabric pleater, a glove maker, a milliner and hat maker and an embroider.

We visited the Ecole Lesage and had a talk on the history of couture and background on the 7 different workshops. We then did a tour of 3 of the workshops Lesage (Embroider), Michel (Hat maker and Milliner) and Lemarie (feather and flower maker). It was really exciting to get to visit these places and what made it more exciting is that they were madly preparing for Fashion week which was in 2 weeks time.

On the second day we had lesson in embroidery at Ecole Lesage and we sewed a beaded pattern onto a screen which we were able to cut out and take home with us.

At Lemarie the Feather and Flower maker
The created they Chanel dress worn by Nicole Kidman for the Chanel No. 5 ads

At Michel's the Hat maker and Milliner

Discovering Place de la Madeleine with Monika

On one of our last really hot days in Paris, Monika - a fellow ESSEC student and Paris local, showed me around Place de la Madeleine. There were some of the most exquisite stores there and exactly what you think of when you dream of Paris and all the lovely things they have here.

There was:

Mariage Tea Shop
The cutest tea shop with teas from all over the world and all the most beautiful accessories for drinking tea.
www.mariagefreres.com

Fauchon
There are 2 Fauchon stores on the Place de la Madeleine. One selling all their amazing cakes (see pic), breads, cheeses. The other selling their deli type items (foie gras, oils, coffee, chocolate) this one also has a restaurant and bar upstairs
www.fauchon.com

Prunier
Caviar store and restaurant
www.prunier.com

Maison de la Truffe
Truffle restaurant and store
www.maison-de-la-truffe.com

Laduree
Macaroon shop - they have another store in St Germain is one of the most popular Macaroon stores with queues going down the street.
www.laduree.fr

Hediard
A gourmet food supplier with everything from oils, wines, fresh fruit, chocolates, sweets and exotic spices.
www.hediard.fr

Maille
Mustard Shop which also sells mayonnaise and vinegar. I am sure I have had their wholegrain mustard in Australia.
www.maille.us

......and of course we had to stop and have a cocktail after our exhausting walk around the square! @ Forvm: www.bar-le-forum.com

Gemmology Class

Gilbert models brown diamond - Diamond with Grading report - I model 2 carat Diamond

We had five sessions with Martine Naman of Natural Fancy Coloured Diamonds, Antwerp. In these sessions we learnt about Gemstones, Diamonds, Coloured Diamonds, Pearls and for our final class for this subject we visited a diamond cutter in Paris.

This was a very popular class - particularly amongst the girls - as we got to see first hand many precious diamonds, gemstones and pearls. Often the jewels were in settings so we could try them on. Everyone would gush as the different stones were handed around the class.

Martine shared with us many interesting stories about the industry. How when she started out it was difficult to sell coloured diamonds as the trend was still for colourless diamonds. I was suprised at how much I loved the Brown diamond, it doesn't sound glamorous but it was.

Other interesting stories she shared was of a colleague who had their yellow diamond stolen by a person known to them. A few years have passed since this happened and just recently a similar stone has been put up for auction in China so her colleague is going to travel to the auction to see if it is his. No two diamonds are exactly the same and her colleague is an expert so if it is his he will recognise it however there is a rule in the industry that if the diamond has been exchanged more than 7 times it is not possible to claim your stone back.

Other things I learnt were that it is illegal to fish for natural pearls and that W.A is the best place to find pink diamonds - I might have to go visit when I get back!

I model a Tahitian Pearl ring - Asami models a pearl ring.- Gilbert models a yellow Diamond