Paris Fashion Week!

Some places are just magic, and nowhere is more magical than Paris. Other cities have fashion shows, but Paris invented fashion. The city itself exudes chic - probably from the generations upon generations of stylish individuals who called Paris home (note: you don't need to be born there, or even French, to have that Parisian je ne sais quoi).

Paris is the city of Chanel, the city of Balenciaga and Givenchy and Lanvin, but it is also the city of artists, writers, and intellectuals. This mix of the bourgeois and the bohemian is what gives Paris its interesting spirit - forward-thinking yet rooted in the past. It also makes the fashion scene incredibly vibrant - from the avant garde to the most classic of labels, there is something for everyone in the City of Light.

But enough of that. Everyone knows that Paris is fabulous, and that its fashion week is the one that even Anna Wintour gets excited over. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Nicholas Ghesquiere will top his last show at Balenciaga, and what Alber Elbaz's Lanvin and Olivier Theyskens's Rochas will look like this season. There is something amazing about how these designers (they are not the only ones, just some of the best) reference the past while still being completely modern.

That is true Parisian style right there - the French have a lot of history to work with, after all, and the world's view of Paris as the capital of chic has been the same for centuries, but its denizens are always ahead of the fashion pack. Check out Parisian street style - they are wearing everything you didn't even know you needed.

All this week: reviews of the Fashionable Kiffen's favorite looks from Paris Fashion Week!