Mar
23
Written by:
TravelingProfessor
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
I attended the English-speaking Fashion Show at Galleries Lafayette’s flagship store in Paris on the last Friday of October, 2010. I’d read about it in “The Traveling Professor’s Guide to Paris.” It sounded like fun!
On the appointed day at the appointed hour, an escalator took me and the other attendees from the elevator’s exit to the top floor where the fashion show was to take place in 15-20 minutes. This escalator empties out into a space about 15 feet by 20 feet. Double doors to the fashion room area were locked. There were no other doors or exits or stairs. As more and more people were disgorged into the room from the escalator, we became increasingly crowded in that small space. It got worse. We were packed in there like a cattle car. In addition, four groups, with 12-20 persons each appeared.
Shouts of alarm soon were heard. “This is dangerous and getting worse by the minute.” “Someone, please get them to stop the escalator.” Fists beat frantically on the locked doors. Within a couple minutes, the escalator indeed stopped.
The double doors did not open for another 12-15 minutes, which made the show opening about 15 minutes late. It’s an understatement to say we were all burning up. Why there wasn’t an exodus of attendees right then, with me included, is beyond me!
Finally, the doors opened. We got glimpses of 3 women and 2 men, all holding papers and pens. The groups were called first. Individuals protested, to no avail. People kept pushing. The rest of us finally staggered in, each of us checked in by one of the employees, each of whom spoke excellent English.
What we saw was a large room, about the size of 3 classrooms, with several rows of folding chairs in a U-shape. The middle of the U held a runway, elevated several feet. The groups had already taken the best seats, though all seats provided adequate views.
When all were checked in and seated…now, about 20-25 minutes late…the sound system suddenly blared forth. I cannot identify the “music,” as I like chamber music and opera, plus the big band sounds of my youth. It was maybe heavy metal or rock or pop, very loud.
The only “English speaking” part of this show were the words shouted by performers of this music! Wouldn’t you expect, “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to our fashion show. Galleries Lafayette is the…” some genuinely enthusiastic opening announcement, with smiles by all the employees. Say something to put the audience into a receptive mood to buy; isn’t that the purpose of the store?
So, without a word from anyone, the show began. There were 5 female models and 1 male. I’d seen only occasional photos of models on runways, never in person. These models looked just like them, professional in every way such as expressions on their faces and walking with their hips looking out of joint.
We each had a folder purporting to indicate the designer and the floor on which to find these clothes. No prices were given for any of the items. It was impossible to follow the folder. After a few minutes, people put them away.
As to the clothes, there were lots of short shorts for the upcoming winter, worn with tights and boots. When I say short, I mean the kind that if a 12-year-old girl wore them into the living room, her mother would say she couldn’t leave the house in them! Almost as many short skirts as there were shorts. The male model wore several pairs of denim jeans having holes all over with the strings hanging out. Names of designers that I can recall were Marc Jacobs, Chanel and Balenciaga.
The show lasted ½ hour. To signal its conclusion, all models appeared together on the runway as the music revved up in volume and pace. The models all bowed to their audience before exiting. The music ceased. We all looked around, so when nothing else seemed to be happening, we all exited.
What a perfect opportunity for an employee to say something such as, “This concludes…thank you for joining us…our designer salons are located…and be sure to check out our blah blah blahs, just arrived for the holidays, starting at 12 euros…and so on.” I do not understand what they could have been thinking of, missing a great opportunity with this captive audience of several hundred affluent customers.
I am glad to have had this unique experience. Would I do it again? Never! Would I recommend it? Only if there were some assurance that the dangerous escalator situation had been corrected. And also, I would tell them what to expect and not expect. And this concludes my report of Galleries Lafayette’s English-speaking Fashion Show.
1 comment(s) so far...
In general I found the grands magasins Galleries Lafayette and Printemps in Paris both to be fire traps with zero apparent concern for anything but getting your money and at the same time treating you as if you are unworthy to shop there because you are not giving them ten or a hundred or a thousand times as much as you spend.
By Susan on
Friday, September 30, 2011
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