THE DAY I MET CARINE ROITFELD

I don't think I've ever delved into my love for Carine Roitfeld on this blog. Sure, I've thought about doing an "I Want Her Style" post on the Editor-in-Chief of French Vogue, but my admiration for Carine extends far beyond her personal style. Besides being an extraordinary beauty and having the most exquisite style in the industry, she revamped French Vogue and, in turn, she changed the whole fashion world.

On Monday afternoon something extraordinary happened after the Max Azria Spring 2011 show. As I was sitting in my second row seat, I observed Carine Roitfeld across the aisle and, from that point on, it was pretty hard to concentrate. While I had plans of networking during my time at fashion week, approaching the mecca of the fashion industry was not one of them. But when I found myself standing next to her, I figured that this was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

When you decide to take a risk and talk to one of the most powerful women in the world, you truly never know what you are going to get; Carine was every bit as lovely as I had expected. We chatted about my bag and how my name was extremely French and, to my surprise, she even allowed me to give her a card. All throughout our conversation, I couldn't help but wonder why she was even giving me the time a day. Maybe it's because she admired the fact that I was a new designer who was trying to get my name out there. Or maybe it is because I am the same age as her daughter, Julia. Or maybe it's because as everyone else was slyly taking her photo, I wanted to talk to her and treat her like a real human being. But deep down I know the real reason is because she's just a good person who happens to be very talented at what she does. We only spoke for a few minutes but, in that time, you can tell that the reason why this woman is so successful is because she never lost who she is and that's exactly why people love her so much.

So Carine, if you're out there, thank you for giving me the privileged opportunity of speaking with you. I hope to meet with you someday along the road and talk about that funny time when I compared my last name to "Saint-Germain-Des-Pres" and how your laugh made my whole day. French Vogue will always be one of my favorite magazines, and even though I have to pay $13 to read it, and I can't understand most of it, your styling, editorials and point of view need no translation. Merci pour tout et J'espere te voir bientot!