Belle Parish Runway Show

Denise Richards escorts a young model

When Fashion Week rolls around, the focus is on the latest looks for woman's ready-to-wear. It would be easy for a line of children's clothing to take a backseat to the adult's and become an after-thought. Belle Parish overcame the hectic noise of Fashion Week and become a memorable, fun show that had a little for everyone at the Elle Style360 series.

I know from having my own daughter that finding stylish, unique, age-appropriate classic clothing can be difficult. Ali Landry, former Miss USA, model and actress discovered this same problem after having her own daughter. Along with like-minded friend and partner, Annie Kate Pons, the two Southerners set out to start the Belle Parish line.

Ali Landry

So just how do you go about having a runway show when the models are from infants to five or six years old? Their solution was to recruit other mothers (and one father) to escort the little girls up and down the runway. Notable escorts included Ali Landry herself, Denise Richards and Alex McCord. Kids being kids, there were fun moments as the models strayed a bit from the usual catwalk routine; an occasional stop along the way, a little coercion, kisses blown to Mom and even a young sleeping model couldn't stop the show from being an enjoyable success. 

The Southern-inspired outfits were lovely, practical and well above what parent's would find in the typical homogenized big-box stores. The Belle Parish website can be found at www.belleparish.com

Alex McCord

Ali and Annie have done such a wonderful job with the Belle Parish line for little ladies, perhaps they will become inspired to fill the even deeper sartorial void that exists for little boys. We can only hope.

These two stole the show as they sashayed down the runway to the soundtrack from Annie. 

To see the slideshow of the entire line plus a few bonus images, visit my Belle Parish Gallery

Eliz Lind

New York can be a bit of an odd place. Combine the large number of people, the vast amounts of wealth and the media- you'll find that people can react very strangely. Not a profound statement, people act strangely everywhere. But this is New York and if it's going to be done here-  it's going to be big.

The rarified air of New York's "High Society" can make otherwise seemingly reasonable and rational people go to extreme measures to be part of this elite group. Social climbing is not a new phenomenon but with the media and social media as it is and websites dedicated to following the gentility through a host of photographers and gossip journalists, both transparency is at it's highest as well as the desires of some to get into the club. A humorous aside; there's actually a website that ranks individual's notoriety based on an algorithm that includes how many events they attend and are photographed at, as well as the number of mentions in certain media such as the "Page 6" gossip column. How much attention is paid to the rankings by the corps d'elite is uncertain. I would need to review Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs but it's safe to say that concern over where one falls in the societal popularity contest is trivial to the masses.

It's refreshing to run across someone that's welcomed as societal royalty but truly seems to be apathetic about it all. So many are striving to be "in", there must be gnashing of teeth at the thought of one's nonchalance. Eliz Lind doesn't show signs of disdain over this cultural hierarchy, she simply seems indifferent . In many ways she's the girl-next-door; down to earth, unassuming, friendly and just assume learn more about you than talk about herself.

Beautiful classical features with high cheekbones and a delightful Lauren Hutton smile, she turns heads wherever she goes. Humorously, she thinks they think she's someone else. Someone in Europe once either confused her with or told her she has a striking resemblance to a notable European beauty. Since then, she assumes gawkers must be making the same mistake. This is perhaps one of the greatest illustrations of how down to earth Eliz is.

A Manhattan native, Eliz has long been considered one of the "It" girls of both the New York and Palm Beach social scenes. So much so that Vogue and other publications have listed her as one of the top eligible bachelorettes. The Vogue spread then led to modeling for Burberry as well as other advertising campaigns. Is there little wonder why people recognize her?

Unfazed by it all, Eliz works in Real Estate in Palm Beach (where her family now resides full-time) and writes for Q magazine- work she throughly enjoys.  Previously described as "Bohemian meets the Upper East Side", the dichotomy is evident. Her personal style is unique and honest. Elegant but unpretentious. There is a sense of being caught between two worlds and the bohemian artist is trying to escape and find refuge- unsure of the unchartered territory.  Shuttling between New York and Palm Beach, the Elizabeth Lind story is continuing to unfold but will undoubtedly be as interesting as the earliest chapters. I look forward to the rest of the story.

  {Click to enlarge}