FASHION Magazine

By Laura deCarufel

Here’s a fashion fan party trick: Determine how many pairs of white jeans Olivier Zahm owns. The Purple Fashion magazine editor-in-chief wore a slim-fitting pair at every major event I saw him at during Cannes: The Chanel Cruise 2012 after-party, where he snapped photos of Kristen McMenemy dancing on a chair, and then nuzzled with It Brit Poppy Delevigne; the Calvin Klein beach-side extravaganza, where he wore his sunglasses at night, sipping champagne near Uma Thurman and Rosario Dawson; and, of course, at the late-night piano bar, which Le Baron, the iconic Parisian nightclub, has taken over during the festival, and over which Zahm presided like hipster royalty.

By Laura deCarufel

It was always going to be major, the kind of major that connotes italics and inspires emails with the subject line “OMG”—or, more accurately, “Oh mon Dieu.” Last night’s Chanel Cruise 2012 show was a heavenly—and très French—affair.

For starters, the location: The fabled Hotel du Cap Eden Roc, perched on a cliff in the south of France, has the vibe of a continental Gatsby mansion, complete with cream hue, palm trees, and a pathway-cum-runway leading from the terraced steps down to a rock wall overlooking an infinity pool.

Tables with striped umbrellas were set up along the runway so that everyone had a front row seat. Waiting for the show to begin, I sipped chilled Perrier-Jouet and watched the other guests smoke and double-kiss. Most of them were wearing Chanel, and all of them were wearing it differently. A French reporter dressed up a pair of jeans with a black lace dress accessorized only with a cigarette. Princess Caroline of Monaco chose a monochromatic ivory look (satin blouse and trousers), while screen stars Anna Mouglalis and Vanessa Paradis were chic in classic black.