BEHIND THE CURTAINS OF THE PARIS COLLECTION

A Young Man in Paris

On a warm May’s night filled with stars and distant chatter, I set alone in a little street café in Montmartre. The sky was clear and somewhat purple, as to celebrate the lilac blossoms. I decided to join in on the blush-fest with a glass of Rosé. Overwhelmed by the enchanting aroma, the street commotion and the colors of May, I did what I always do. I opened my sketchbook and started sketching, what later became a collection of engagement rings. I was thinking - Why is Paris called   “The city of Love”?  I was lost in my inner dialog, when a young and vibrant couple, set next to me and ordered wine. Drowning in each other’s eyes, they were smitten with love. Spring fever, I thought, with sparkling laughter, low voices and loud kisses. My design process, I thought, will benefit from that public display of love and affection. The lines kind of flow better when I am reminded of how vibrant love is, how unapologetically glowing love is. So, I kept on drawing and putting down concepts and detail ideas. When the young lady politely asked me to take a picture of them, to remember this moment forever, unintentionally, I became a part of the scene to unfold. The young woman had to give me a crash course on how to use her camera, mind you, it was 2008 and she had on a fancy film camera, something I forgot how to use since my iPhone was my go-to tech for snapping random pictures. From the corner of my eye, I caught her companion, quietly kneeling down and taking out a vintage ring box, while she was fretting over the language barrier and the focus on her camera. She saw the confusion on my unshaven face and turned around… The night exploded... There were tears, hugs, and commotion. More thirsty kisses and incomprehensible words, as she gently breathed out her joyful - “I will”… Under the spell of this spontaneous moment, I kept on fighting the film camera and pushing the record button, forgetting I have to rewind the film. And with every frame I took, in that lilac night, I saw the answer to my question – Why Paris? Why “The City of Love”? … It seemed to me that this unpretentious café, that pavement littered with lilac blossom, under the starry skies, was the perfect, almost magical place to ask for lifelong love commitment. Two people coming together to create their magical story. And one confused me - documenting the moment.