A Unique Perspective: With Sylvie Utudjian at Valentino's Haute Couture Show
Sylvie Utudjian, also known as Influencer(@uberchique), is not only a Breitling Ambassador but also an haute couture lover and Austrian part of the international fashion circle that forms anew every year around the fashion weeks.
This time she took L'Officiel Austria along to her high-profile invitation to the Valentino Haute Couture Days in Venice and chatted from her travel suitcase. Her daughter Victoria was also there and thus contributes to the preservation of the fashion tradition in Sylvie's family; after all, her grandmother is already a L'Officiel reader of the first hour."My first real dress, given to me by my mother for my high school graduation, was a white shantung silk dress by Dolce&Gabbana. It's very Jacky O and from Dolce's best era, their Heydays. I still own the dress and still love wearing it. A timeless classic, masterfully crafted," Sylvie explains the beginning of her passion for collecting. Also in anticipation of the Valentino haute couture show, the influencer tells us that it's really more about the fashion per se, the craftsmanship, and the intellectual standards at Valentino than the exclusive haute couture club that you automatically join when you attend the shows.
Because haute couture is a completely different genre from prêt-à-porter, which tends to be aimed at a broader audience, whereas haute couture is aimed at a very few, very select buyers. Unlike usual, the Valentino show did not take place at the Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild in Paris, but at the Gaggiandre de l'Arsenalin Venice, where the catwalk floated over the water and Cosima melancholically proclaimed the start of Valentino's rebirth "post-Corona" at the golden hour of the evening sun.
Illustrious circle
Not the usual paparazzi, not the usual celebrities, not the "fashion family" such as Lauren Santo Domingo, the Brandolini's, or Olivia Palermo were on hand to see the new couture collection, but a select circle of private clients from all over the world who celebrated Piccioli's creations as never before seen.
"You got goosebumps, the scenery was surreal, almost like an art installation. I love this intellectual level of Valentino. It's very rare to feel that zeitgeist in fashion," says Sylvie, sprinting from one event to the next in Rockstud heels as if they were her usual Chanel ballerinas, which she likes to wear during prêt-à-porter days.
"I look forward to the day when I'm just a guest and don't have to see everything through my phone. The stress of a fashion week is not to be neglected! It might sound pretentious now, but it shouldn't be, because after all, I work too, I have a lot of business meetings, plus the industry meets here." Reuniting with old friends is one of the big plus points, and Utudjian is particularly happy about meeting one of her fellow students at McGill University, Imran Amed, founder of BOF.
There are numerous side events, such as the dinner of a renowned e-commerce platform. These are, by the way, very connected to the house of Valentino and often present exclusive collaborations, as was the case most recently at Art Basel 2019, where the dinner was hosted together with the online retailer Mytheresa. "Of course I'm allowed to come to these events in company, I like to take my girlfriends with me or this time my daughter. Of course, that's where a mother's heart goes out to see her daughter wearing the red dress I wore to my first Valentino haute couture show four years ago."
Even though the days flew by like the blink of an eye and Sylvie Utudjian barely had time to really eat - which happens all the time during fashion week - it was a magical event that would bring Sylvie's daughter even closer to the fashion world. "She had already done various internships in the fashion world and also wants to work in the fashion industry, but on the business level when she finishes her studies," says the proud mother.
Ready for the fashion circus
This time Sylvie travelled quite light in comparison and only had three suitcases with her, all exclusively from Valentino, only the bags come from Hermès. - Which, by the way, she sees as a structured investment. "I'm not an It-bag buyer, I'm more classically inclined. In a way, Hermès bags are a family tradition for us; I inherited my 'Croco Birkin' from my mother and will hopefully be able to pass it on to my daughters in good condition." In the past, Sylvie Utudjian travelled with far more luggage and, more importantly, a lot of jewellery. However, after leaving her diamond studs on the nightstand in a New York hotel during a trip and still securing her stud earrings in the wastebasket after housekeeping was done with her room after checkout, she has learned. "It taught me to put my jewellery in the safe even after a very late night and, most importantly, to only take what I really need." Where once the entire household was packed, now the selection is very planned - just how one travels as an Influencer in 2021. Brand collaborations are often shot during her trip, rather than just documenting fashion weeks.
"Planning is everything and you have to use the right window of time." During the Valentino haute couture show, Sylvie had a professional hair-and-makeup artist to get her "camera-ready", however, she doesn't always have that much time when travelling during the fashion circus. A spectacle that her daughter was able to experience live in Venice and will certainly be perfect in the future. After all, after the show is before the show. And in the Utudjian house, the family honour is at stake.
