When I arrived at Ralph Rucci's Apartment on Rue de Sevigne in The Marais - a section of Paris that can be compared to New York City's Chelsea - I realized I did not have my cell phone and the wrought iron gate was locked shut. After yet another hunt to find this address, I thought "Oh Man," What am I going to do. Then, a kind Frenchman, who lived in the building, asked if he could help. I pointed him the address and Voila, I was in.
There I was inside the garden apartment that was the home to Ralph Rucci's Paris studio. The funny thing is that here are rows and rows of basic pieces: skirts, jackets suits. Of the hundreds of pieces that made up the Fall 2008 ready-to-wear collection, only 63 ensembles would make it down the runway. This week, Rucci will show his collection to prospective buyers. In the meantime, employees were organizing paperwork and matching models to their outfits.
There were also trunks - 40 to be exact where the collection was shipped on the airplane.
I got to the studio about an hour before the collection was be shipped across the River Seine to the building where the show would be held. Everything was already on hangars and packaged in plastic. It always amazes me how much work goes into a 15 minute runway presentation.
