An Afropolitan in Paris

La Fondation Louis Vuitton

All you need to add to your African print cropped trench is Le Breton striped shirt and Voila! You are in Paris ...

















... where the leopards also come in Schiaparelli shocking pink!

La Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent

However I was certainly not the first Afropolitan en Paris. Yves Saint Laurent was doing it in 1971 when he put his models in African headwraps for his infamous Scandal collection, so named because it was universally panned and abhorred by the Paris fashion world.

I knew this not because I actually remember the 1971 collection - 'cause I don't - but because I had just seen the film Saint Laurent in Joburg in the cinema before I left for Europe. Happily for Yves, the collection did however conquer the streets. So there, critics!

And speaking of couturiers, I must give a shout-out for my Ralph Lauren-inspired African print cropped trench custom made for me by Victor Reed Couture. Victor's studio is in his house in Emmarentia but he is opening a new stand-alone studio soon in Linden. Follow him on Facebook for announcements on the official opening.

The cropped trench is perfect for an April in Paris ... and London and Munich and Berlin too. Bises Victor!