FASHIONING UNIQUE EXPERIENCES
Calgary woman organizes tours of Paris with an emphasis on both culture and couture
Paris has a reputation for being a beautiful and romantic city, full of rare fashion finds, delectable food and wine, and a history of extraordinary craftsmanship. It also has a reputation for being intimidating and difficult for outsiders to navigate. Visitors looking to explore Paris beyond the wellknown tourist spots often don’t even know where to start, which is where a seasoned tour guide can come in handy.
Enter Calgary-based fashion expert and professional stylist Leah Van Loon and her new business venture, Fashion Experience Tours.
Van Loon has been visiting Paris for almost two decades through her work in the fashion industry and admits that she initially found the city difficult to navigate herself. But after repeated visits she started to get to know the ins and outs of Paris and wanted to share the experience with other people who share her interests.
“The first time I went there I spent so much time figuring out where I was going that I didn’t necessarily have the opportunity to stop or see new places,” she says.
“Once you figure it out, Paris is actually very simple, but it’s the figuring out that takes time. It’s always been my goal to get to know the city well enough to make it easier for other people to figure it out too.”
Van Loon started by bringing fashion students from the Alberta College of Art and Design on educational tours that focused on behind-the-scenes aspects of the fashion industry, but with her new tour, which will take place from Oct. 6 to 13, she’s opening things up to the general public with a leisurely program that will highlight French craftsmanship and culture.
Van Loon will lead a small group of participants through Paris, visiting artist studios (ateliers), museum shows, cafés and other sights. While Van Loon won’t finalize the itinerary until she consults with participants (the group is limited to six to 12 people to keep things manageable) to gauge their individual interests, the tour will most certainly hit highlights like jewelry and textile exhibits at various museums, a trip to the massive Clignancourt flea market, a tour of Montmartre, and a picnic underneath the Eiffel Tower.
“When we look at fashion and craftsmanship we think about things like couture, which is something that I’m obviously very interested in in terms of my job. But the process of craftsmanship is one of the things that is really revered in France,” Van Loon says. “Part of my personal mandate is to try to find these places that still exist because even in the centre of Paris, there are very few true ateliers left and I want people to be able to see them.”
Despite the fact that Van Loon will indeed be guiding a small group of strangers around a city that she’s well acquainted with, she doesn’t see her Fashion Experience Tour as a traditional tourist program.
For one, participants won’t be carted around in a bus; the group will get from site to site by foot or Paris Metro, with everyone having detailed maps in case they choose to branch off on their own and meet up with the group later.
Van Loon is also not including flights with her packages so that participants can make the tour part of a larger European vacation, use frequent flyer miles, or depart from cities other than Calgary.
“Anyone can take you on a tour,” Van Loon says. “But I’m hoping to provide experiences that people will take inspiration from and bring back to their own work as artists, or just to help them have an amazing trip and experience.”
Van Loon’s tour is run through ACAD’s department of continu- ing education, but participants don’t need to be students; the tour is open to anyone age 18 or over. The fee is 2,000 euros and includes transportation, daily breakfast and lunch, museum and guided tour fees, and shared hotel accommodations.
Van Loon will also offer complementary concierge services for those looking to book dinner for themselves or do side excursions on their own time.
For more information visit fashionexperiencetours.com. Enrolment for the tour will be capped at the end of July so that Van Loon has time to personalize details of the tour for the group.
It’s the figuring out that takes time. It’s always been my goal to get to know the city well enough to make it easier for other people to figure it out too.