An Afternoon at Cacharel

What an afternoon! I got to spend a good part of it at Cacharel's Paris showroom taking in spring's Liberty collection which was a bonus as the invite was to view the fall/winter 2009-2010 collection. I had no inklings of what to expect from next season as Cacharel and creative directors Mark Eley and Wakako Kishimoto, big favourites of mine, parted ways after the spring show (not sure why), and I hadn't heard news of any replacement - hence no preconceived notions as to influences. Turns out the in-house team did the job, and it was oh-so gorgeous. Embarrassingly, I did little 'oohs' and 'ahs' all while a buyer was trying to do business but I really couldn't help it - it wasn't about orders for me, it was all about adoration (although I have to admit that a few times "Combien?" nearly left my lips while eyeing up my favourite pieces - I almost tried to buy them. It was a Pavlovian response.)

I'll show the fall/winter photos in a separate post and concentrate on the Liberty pieces here, which are a re-edit of their best of the 1970s, brought back to mark Cacharel's 50th anniversary. I really adore these prints and the easy, feminine styles of the dresses. They remind me of summers when I was growing up, when my only responsibility was being within earshot of my mother calling me home for dinner.

The news is that Cacharel is opening a short-term boutique - about four months - in Montmarte to sell the limited collection (only a small number of pieces were produced). They really are collectors items; who knows if we'll ever see them again? (75th anniversary??)

I have to offer a great big thank you to Annabelle for the invite and for taking the time with me (lots of it) to hold up pieces while I snapped photos. Everyone at Cacharel was so great, especially Annabelle who was as sweet as the Liberty dresses.