Gilles Mendel, a third generation furrier, who showed in conjunction with Olympus Fashion Week for the third time at the Tents in Bryant Park, took inspiration from his youth in Paris for a "modern day gamine". The French born Russian descendent, who originally made a name for himself through his innovative young and hip furs and fur accessories, (gaining a loyal group of customers who are comprised of some of the city's most socially elite), cited Charlotte Rampling and Romy Schneider as his muses because they "dressed in such easy classic style that always seemed so incredibly cool." Though I was disappointed with the ready to wear and quite frankly, didn't really see the connection, because much of what was shown was hardly "classic". There was too much in the way of see-thru and sheer, pantsuits were cut very skimpily, and many of the dresses were extremely short, (though there was one nude embroidered silk tulle empire gown with metal trim that was pretty great), and many of the fur pieces, which I normally adore, just seemed a tad over designed.

That said, the very first coat out, a white broadtail Princess coat with bouillon trim and ruffled edges, was breathtakingly beautiful, the springbuck coat in shades of ivory and brown, cut narrow and high- belted for an empire effect, was hip, cool, and effortless, AND the most brilliant pieces were the two velvet mink 'puffers'  (a black sheared mink 'down' coat and a pale azure mink 'down' jacket). This marks the first time mink has been made to resemble nylon down.