Well, I thought I had just about my share of surreal experiences this year but I think today just about trumped it. So la la la la, off to Brussels I toodled (actually it was more like dragging myself out of bed to catch a 6.00 Eurostar…) today to be a part of the La Cambre school 4th and final year fashion students jury panel…
Of course little did I know, wired with copious cups of black Americano, I’d be thrust into a bright white photo studio for the students to show a selection of their silhouettes from their collections and to explain their work to us jury panel members that include…
…Jean Paul Gaultier as the jury president, the fashion director of Dansk magazine, designer of Lanvin menswear Lucas Ossendrijver, the studio director of Maison Martin Margiela, along with the designer of the Martin Margiela Artisanal line, the studio directors of Max Mara and Sportmax and um…. err…. Susie Bubble (which they misspelt as ‘Susy’ on the jury list…nice…)…
As it was, bright white space, echoing voices, models standing around in extremely well-executed student collections (yup…this school officially rules in the European fashion school stakes but more about that later…) and my wired caffeine drenched brain were all elements to cause a bit of a mind warp.
To then be seated next to Jean Paul Gaultier and for him to be laughing and smiling away (he is the smiliest man I’ve possibly met…) and then…and this is my cringe moment… very kindly translating what the students were saying for me because ‘Miss Susie Numpty’ comprends UN PETIT PETIT PEU de Francais….(thanks Mr Gaultier…)…. and discussing the students’ work with him as if I was supposed to be any sort of authority…well, that just pushed this day into Susie’s Surreal Days/Dazed Chart…
I’m not surprised the students were shit-scared presenting their work. I was on the bloody jury and I was feeling the fear…
The La Cambre jury shenanigans will continue until tomorrow but hopefully a trip to the (apparently) DIRT CHEAP flea market in Brussels tomorrow morning will jolt me back to the very familiar bargain hunting, food scoffing reality…
WOW! JPG: That must have been surreal!
Good for you, Susie. Can’t wait to hear all about it!
What an incredible experience! Having JP Gaultier act as your personal interpreter must have been ridiculously surreal. I love his accent when he speaks English and I’ll always remember his appearances on Eurotrash (my taste in TV programs leaves a lot to be desired). I’ve been to the Brussels flea market on many occasions and it’s fantastic but not exactly what I call “dirt cheap”. Have fun!!!
Congrats to you, “Susy”!
Wow how very surreal, what an amazing experience.
Enjoy the rest of your time there.
My golly, Miss Susie,
You’re just living the dream. Mr. JPG himself as your own private interpreter? What a wonderfully surreal experience that must have been.
Judging from your experiences, I see that I have made the right choice picking you as the owner of my vicarious other life…
Which flea market are you taling about?
This one:
The Flea marktet
(Le Vieux Marché)
Place du Jeu de Balle
1000 Brussels
Belgium
??
Thanks 🙂
I agree with Cheryl above! how fab. I’d love to drop that into a conversation, oh you know Gaultier, he acts as my translator when we’re together….hahaha. Kudos susie, and of course you deserve to be there, you’re one of the blogs promoting up and coming designers. You know your stuff!
OMG JPG! That is absolutely fabulous. And Brussels is a pretty cool city! Enjoy your time there. You should interview JPG for style bubble.
aaah i’m so jealous that you’re in bruxelles, its my home and i miss it so! the flea market is great but do get there early as there are some pretty hardcore shoppers there! ENJOY and congratulations, it sounds absolutely amazing!
Have a great time in Brussels! Hope the sun shines on you (on my one and only visit it was an UNBELIEVABLY cold March and I will never forget the cold! Despite that enjoyed Brussels itself)!
Sounded like FUN!!!!!!! Have fun bargain hunting!!!!
Sounds like a you had a great time 🙂 I wasn’t able to make it to the show due to high workload. Do let us know how the fleamarket was!
Oh my! That’s so amazing. Congratulations.
amazing! and he IS supernice. i worked with him all night once. but you should really start giving yourself more credit. you must know and we all know that you do KNOW something about fashion. your opinion obviously carries tons of weight. and i’ll always be coming here for fashion refreshment EVEN if you don’t answer my notes anymore… sigh…
OH. MY. GOD.
Gaultier? That’s insane. I can’t wait to hear the rest of the stories.
Holy Sh*t! how you must have felt when you first realized, oh my lord.
And is this the school that produces all of the incredible Belgium designers we adore?
also he looks so friendly in his photo.
Eat belgium chocolates while you’re there, they’re the best 😉
You’re so lucky. I hope you’ll poste more pictures later !!!
What an amazing experience! You deserve it: you’re the one who makes us discover those new talents. Bravo!
Ahh I’m so jealous, so surreal!! I hope you score something in the fleamarket!
Wow, that’s amazing, congratulations!
It seems like people from a alot of diverse places are reconizing your knowledge of and commitment to fashion, it’s really cool to see.
Lots more tales to tell….not least of the work at La Cambre but for now…for SWR, my dear louche bag maker (I DO want one of your quilted bags by the by…but am short of funds at the moment!)… oi oi oi!
Et oui, c’est place du jeu de bal… can’t wait to see what I find…
La Bubble, it’s certainly doesn’t get any better than that or does it? Simply too fab for wordsxxx
Holy Shi*t indeed! What an amazing experience. I do hope you will one day chronicle your fashion experiences that grew out of this blog. I’d totally buy that book Susie.
Be proud of your double life — JPG and flea markets in two days? This is the life I want!
I’m Speechless. Just Wow. You’ve done amazingly well with this blog and now you’re sitting side by side Jean Paul Gaultier? Wow.
Susie you are having a truly amazing year. It’s funny, when I started reading your blog about 2.5 years ago, I think (geez time flies), I remember thinking “here’s a girl who really loves fashion and does this for the love of fashion”. I like you because I don’t think you jumped into this banking on experiences such as these. But just goes to show, you never know what can happen and you should always do what you love. You’re quite the inspiration. Congrats again (this must be the 5th time I’ve congratulated you on something amazing this year).
Oh and also, oddly enough my father and I were just discussing JPG the other evening and how he is such an icon. (And Galliano). You would never look at my darling and father and guess that he knows who JPG and Galliano are, but he does. . . and I love him dearly for it 🙂
Haha…he certainly does look smiley.
Ahhh did you manage to take any photographs/have access to any photos of the day? I agree with the others, sounds like an incredible experience!!!
Wow, my mind is fully and completely blown. Amazing!
Jean-Paul Gaultier interpreting for you? I can see how it might seem surreal…but you really don’t give yourself enough credit, Susie- you love fashion, and the blog is an achievement in itself- enjoy it! And good luck in the flea market..
HOOOLY crap! i can not imagine the immense pressure of showing a collection in front of JPG & none other than miss susie bubble. How amazing that you got to sit with him!
xoxo
how absolutely perfect (: can’t wait for more tales of shopping/hunting in Brussels!
How fabulous! I know how you can sometimes feel ‘inferior’ when you compare yourself to other supposedly more ‘knowledgeable’ types but actually….JPG is at least twice if not thrice your age so of course he will be way more experienced than you. BUT you all bring something to the table so you have to trust the organisers that they know what they’re doing getting you on board and just swallow those doubts!
wow!! what a chance in a lifetime, it sounds so surreal! am looking forward to all the coverage
WOW! I can’t believe it! You are sooo lucky
I am agog.
yey! well i have a feeling one will magically appear 🙂
Sweetheart – just enjoy this! And yes, it’s true he is the smiliest man around ( I should know, I interned with him in the early 1990’s in Paris) and he was like this then, just a darling sweet kind and incredibly talented man, he’s my favorite, really, I adore him! I can’t grasp, you just had this experience with him and I am very happy for you! It will resonate with you for years to come… so great! idil
Nice article