Vogue Paris August 2004: Belle De Nuit
lundi 19 août 2013 
Throughout the month we will flash back to the August 2004 issue of Vogue Paris under Carine Roitfeld and to start us off, I am delighted to introduce today's guest post by Justine Ariel from common era | DISCREET FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY. Justine deftly examines the editorial "Belle de Nuit" as styled by Emmanuelle Alt and photographed by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin for the issue. Thank you kindly for sharing your stylish insights with all of us, Justine!
Vogue Paris August 2004: Belle De Nuit
By Justine Ariel
Indeed, Parisian from head to toe: noir, noir, et noir. The Roitfeld/Alt team begins this editorial with a well-known adage about the Parisian woman: chicly eccentric, she doesn't just dress with the sophistication of night, she is the night. Crowned with a black hat by Miu Miu and draped in a black poncho and black python boots by Chloé, the model (Hannelore Knuts) is literally covered from head to toe by the black night sky. And while the night is reserved for dark and mysterious activities — the python boots may be a nod to that story about the snake and the apple, you know the one I mean? — these clothes are not rebellious or earth-shaking.
Take, for instance, the Chanel ensemble on the fifth page. An allusion to the iconic photo of Coco Chanel herself, with her arm pressed defiantly into her side, Alt suggests that when Parisians find a good thing, they stick to it. Night is also a time for ritual and routine and with this comes contemplation and memories. Hannelore Knuts, who manages to channel Madonna and Chloë Sevigny in the same moment, is the perfect choice for a shoot like this. She reflects the look of the clothes because her look is classic, but changeable, maybe a little boring, but then also unexpected.
And we should really examine the variation these clothes present. You have, on the one hand, the classic Chanel look. Then you have a Fendi art deco, Cleopatra-inspired black and gold dress, a long evening gown by Marc Jacobs, a long diaphanous dress from Lagerfeld, a brown leather Miu Miu jacket, a Givenchy tweed coat... Wait. What happened to the night? After a solid introduction by Chloé on the first page, my eye wants to see more black, only black. And there is something about a brown leather jacket and brown velvet that will always scream autumn afternoon to me. Okay, maybe the Roitfeld/Alt team just wants to keep us on our toes, they want to throw in that chic eccentricity, that unexpected thing. You think Parisians are all about black? Well, what if I wore brown? Uh….
Whether or not consistency is an issue, the crowning and subversive achievement of this editorial is definitely the Ann Demeulemeester ensemble. Leather pants and a chainmail top. While we've grown used to this kind of styling by Emmanuelle Alt (definitely a "classic Alt"), in this editorial it represents the new, the truly different choice. This is one of the only ensembles that isn't styled with a Miu Miu hat which, I should say, is somewhere in between sophisticated 1920s flapper and the bucket hat your grandma wears when she gardens (points for grandma?). And the rock-chic standard of this outfit is so refreshing when, on the previous pages, you have a Marc Jacobs evening gown pinned with a butterfly. Don't get me wrong — I love butterflies, but I love them as beautiful things that sit on flowers, not necessarily popping out of my evening wear.
This is the success of the editorial: the contradiction between classic drapes and modern ideas. The Chanel jacket and pearls versus the Ann Demeulemeester leather and chainmail outfit. Society against rebel. You can see Emmanuelle Alt's preference in the Demeulemeester ensemble: the need to create a new kind of night, not wrapped in Marc Jacobs evening gowns or Louis Vuitton lace, but rough. Metal and leather stripping away old ideas and making way for an era sans chapeau. Just a little bit subversive, but not too much.
These are the tensions of night: to stay safe, cloaked in black, moving mysteriously from one identity to the next, or to be bold and show your "chic eccentricities" like you're ready for battle.
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Vogue Paris editorial images © 2004 Condé Nast. All Rights Reserved.
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