A Parisian Dream – with Bonpoint SS17

The 6th of July was no average Wednesday for me! My alarm went off at the crack of dawn, I cuddled my kids and made my way down to London where I hopped on the Eurostar to Paris. When I arrived a taxi took me to my hotel and then on to the Bonpoint SS17 show at their flagship store on Rue de Tournon. What a treat! Not only a job in Paris (er…yes please!), attending and photographing a high end fashion show, but for a brand which sells the most divine, whimsical and sweet children’s clothing I’ve ever seen.

When I was first sent the invitation I immediately jumped online and researched Bonpoint, and found images from their beautiful and iconic Parisian store, and video footage from their Autumn/Winter show which looked magical – complete with fake snow and little white ponies on the runway! I had a feeling we would be in for a visual treat this time around too, and I wasn’t disappointed.

The beautiful courtyard, my press pass and a little bubbly, and the children having a quick practise before the guests arrived

The show was held in a beautiful courtyard behind the store on Rue de Tournon. The surrounding buildings had huge windows painted grey/blue with magnificent shutters, the courtyard was canopied with a white wooden pergola, an eclectic collection of white love seats, benches and chairs for the guests to sit on, and little white table filled with glasses of elderflower cordial decorated with petals and leaves. The vine draped pergola provided a lovely dappled shade from the warm afternoon sun, and the (very fashionable) guests milled around chatting and enjoying a drink before the show began.

The beautiful flagship store on the Rue de Tournon

We were first taken through the store itself, which I would highly recommend a visit to if you are ever in Paris. The window displays seem to be always very special, on this day a scene created with lovely little wooly sheep! There is a tree in the store and a huge wooden hut giving you the sense you are in a tree house, and other playful details such as baby dolls in baskets that reminded me of “rock-a-by baby, in the tree tops”. Another room has a ceiling display of flowers, and walls draped in pink fabric, all with huge windows looking out onto the leafy courtyard where the show was held.

Backstage details

After we’d admired the store we were taken backstage which was a frenzy of activity. The children who model in the shows are a mixture of professional child models, and children of friends and loyal customers of the brand. Each child has a rail of clothes with their name on, and an adult dedicated to helping them get changed throughout the show.

Dressing rails backstage

The Bonpoint look is of course very chic, but they keep childhood innocence and playfulness at the heart of their designs. One of the loveliest things about the show was the models were so innocent and unaffected by all the cameras and admiration from the guests.

It was very endearing and touching to watch, and they all looked amazing. I had a huge smile on my face throughout the show, it’s hard not to feel happy on an occasion like this! I had the pleasure of meeting my long time Instagram friend Masha Theone as well, who had also been invited along to the show. We had a lovely time exploring Montmartre that evening, and Rue Cremieux and Le Marais the morning after. It was a complete whirlwind of a trip but a wonderful experience! The fun doesn’t stop here as Bonpoint will soon be sending me some outfits from their Autumn/Winter collection to style and photograph with my children. The whimsical, fresh and innocent look of the Bonpoint clothing is perfectly up my street and I can’t wait to photograph their clothing again.

This blog post and my trip to Paris was kindly sponsored by Bonpoint. You can view their full collection here x