It was February 28th and the famous Paris Fashion Week had just started. This has been one of my bucket list items since I was young. To be in Paris for Fashion Week is a dream but to live in Paris during it was so much better. This is the week all the famous celebrities, including actors, models, influencers, and more, come together to celebrate luxury fashion. The most talented designers work the entire year for this one week, so they can show off their wonderful creations. The most gorgeous models train their whole lives for this one week. As someone who does not know much about fashion, I still am utterly amazed by all the hard work that goes into this one incredible week.
On Monday, February 28th, one of my roommates and I decided to walk around the
area where we knew fashion week would be hosted. We did our research on past Paris Fashion Week and noticed a lot of celebrities being photographed by the Louvre. Despite no shows being on until later that evening (full schedule of shows and what time they are at are easily available online), we wanted to just see what the layout of fashion week would look like and had zero expectations of seeing anything interesting. Immediately as we exited the metro station, we saw everyone seemed to be dressed a little fancier than usual. While Parisians are known for their good style, all week people in the fashion show areas were dressed in the most extravagant outfits. These people were not anyone important but people who added to the overall vibes of fashion week. I was in awe of their fashion sense and took a few pictures for future inspiration.
As we are walking we suddenly see a large crowd of people standing in the middle of the street. My roommate and I run up to go see what they are looking at. When we get there we see THE KENDALL JENNER standing on a balcony of her hotel. I was so starstruck since Kendall has been one of my favorite Kardashians and celebrities since I can remember. For those of you who do not know her, she is one of the most famous and highest-paid supermodels in the world and part of the Kardashian family. Every girl looks up to her and wishes to be her and here she was standing so effortlessly beautiful on her balcony in front of me. She walked back and forth saying hi to fans and even videoed us! The people were standing in the middle of the street blocking traffic and yelling her name while giving her tons of compliments. I got an amazing video of her and some pictures which you can see here! Her hair was colored orangey/red for the Prada show in Milan the week before. After she went inside, we waited outside and watched her as she got into her car and went away. It was such a lucky moment for us and one I will never forget.
The next day we decided to test our luck again. Thankfully, living in Paris and being knowledgeable about the city we were able to get places quickly and spend long
amounts of time exploring. We did some more internet research looking for locations of potential shows or areas where celebrities had last been sighted. Therefore, we decided to try out a hotel where Euphoria stars Jacob Elordi and Domini Fike were rumored to be staying. Euphoria had just aired their season finale the week prior so they are very popular celebrities at the moment, especially Jacob. When we went to the hotel there was a small crowd waiting outside. We asked around and no one seemed to know if Jacob was actually staying there or if he was even there at the moment. Regardless of the uncertainty, my roommate and I decided to wait. About 30 minutes later Dominic Fike walked out in an all-black outfit. The crowd was excited not only to see him but since he was here that most likely meant Jacob was as well. 10 minutes later we saw a tall figure emerging from the hotel lobby and it was him!! Again, I was absolutely star-struck and this time was less than a foot away from him! He is one of my favorite male celebrities at the moment and I still cannot believe it happened. The video I got was phenomenal and it actually went viral on Tik Tok with over 12 million views! Another successful fashion week celebrity sighting.
On Wednesday, my roommate and I wanted to take a break from fashion week. 
However, that was short-lived, because on our way home from school we discovered that the Balmain fashion show was actually a 2 min walk from our apartment! We decided to head over after we got some water and snacks since we had our fashion week sighting routine down. When we got there, it was absolutely packed with paparazzi, press, fans, and fashion show workers. We saw all the makeup artists entering through the side doors and were able to catch a glimpse of the inside. We waited for an hour before we saw all the celebrities walk in. It was amazing! We saw so many including famous soccer player Neymar, star tennis player Serena Williams, actors from Riverdale Charles Melton and Madelaine Petsch, and more! It was cool to see them do their walks and see what they were wearing. We even saw the Balmain designer himself, Oliver Rousteing, who must’ve been so proud of his work. Overall, it was great to see an actual outside of a fashion show and all the work that goes into each event.
Our last fashion show experience was this past Monday, March 7th at Musee D’Orsay where the Louis Vuitton show was being hosted. After our class ended we headed
straight there in order to catch a glimpse of the celebrities and get a feel of the layout. When we got there already an hour early it was packed. We had to squeeze into a small spot to get a good view. However, it was well worth it for we saw so many more celebrities! We saw Joe Jonas, Sophie Turner, Sarah Paulson, Emma Stone, Julianne Moore, Gemma Chan, Chloë Grace Moretz, and my favorite EMMA CHAMBERLAIN. Emma Chamberlain is a famous YouTuber/influencer from the bay area who is my age and someone I very much admire. When I saw her get out of the black van my jaw dropped. She looked absolutely stunning and waved to all of her fans. It was the perfect way to end the fabulous Paris Fashion Week.
Overall, this week was an experience I will never forget. It inspired me to research more about fashion and what it takes to be part of the behind-the-scenes of such an important week like this in hopes of one day actually being able to be a part of it. Living in Paris made it all the more easier to go look around and see all the amazing things we did! I hope to make it to another Paris Fashion Week in the future. Would not trade my study abroad location for the world! Until next time, Au Revoir!