Chocolate Fashion Exhibition at the Salon du Chocolat 2009 in Paris - Part 1: Look but Don't Touch {Scented Paths & Fragrant Adresses} {Fashion Notes}
The preamble. What you saw when you entered the salon (among other things). A hostess from the brand Côte d'Or was distributing samples. I didn't try those because they are easy to find in supermarkets. But as you can see, the mood was welcoming.
Parisians don't just eat their chocolate in silence, they talk about it and would stand there with their chocolate in the mouth then in the air exchanging remarks and looking like they were tasting with their brains, which is actually what takes place.
Last week Paris held its annual Salon du Chocolat, a mega fair for chocolate lovers and professionals founded by Sylvie Douce and François Jeantet. The 2009 vintage was its 15th edition. Being a global affair, it will soon take place in New York city as the Chocolate Show on October 30 - November 1, 2009. Then Shanghai, Tokyo, Moscow and Madrid will follow.
One of the highlights of this annual cacao folly (featuring also the complementary vanilla and other treats) is the lineup of fashion creations made out of chocolate. This year the central theme of inspiration was Opera. There were daily catwalk shows. It is a way to display local craftsmanship and attract crowds who are always sensitive to spectacular entries.
There were oohs and aahs and the occasional biting comment from the ever demanding Parisians who could not taste the chocolate-turned-into-dresses but could nevertheless try to ascertain the level of difficulty of the different designs. A funny comment came from someone who admired a dress as being the real deal and then concluded that some of the other creators by comparison were just crooks who wanted to make you believe that they had done anything special.
Today I am listing group 1 of the chocolate-y fashion garments. There will be two more, the way they were organized at the show.
I will also be posting more pictures in an upcoming post to show some of the latest chocolate trends at the Salon and there will be giveaways of goodies that I hand-picked, courtesy of TSS for people living in northern climes because otherwise you will end up with a pool of chocolate and flower petals...
It was hard to tell whether the material had been dipped in chocolate or whether it was all chocolate. Chocolats Pralus, Marithé + François Girbaud.
Jacques Bellanger, Moon Young Hee. Probably one of the outfits that were the least literalist and took liberty with the idea of interpreting chocolate in a costume. As you read, this did not fly well with some in the crowd which expected designers to take up the challenge and make edible chocolate the main material to be worked upon. We want more chocolate! Not less!
Chocolaterie Philippe Pascoet, Christophe Guillarmé. Inspired by Puccini Turandot.
Christophe Roussel chocolatier, Jean-Claude Jitrois, Dom Juan.
Jean-Paul Hévin chocolatier, Hervé Léger.
Maison Arnaud Larher, Dognin. Les Indes Galantes, Rameau. Probably another dress that was thought to be too "easy" compared with more spectacular numbers.
And just to show how it's not easy to wear a dress decorated with chocolate, see how the model's body heat comes in the way of pure style. 
