Models wear sweet treats down the runway for Paris Chocolate Fair
Chocolate fair in Paris
Paris Chocolate Fair, or Le Salon du Chocolat, opened its 25th-anniversary edition on Tuesday (October 29) with a sweet offering - a fashion show where models wore outfits made of chocolate.
Chocolatiers and designers collaborated on the sugary ensembles, which ranged from an Incan warrior outfit to a cage skirt containing live doves.
The show's theme, celebrating chocolate-producing countries worldwide including Peru, Ivory Coast and the Philippines, featured traditional music from and outfits inspired by each country.
The First Lady of Ivory Coast, Dominique Folloroux-Ouattara, was among the audience watching models including this year's Miss France, Vaimalama Chaves, strut their stuff on the catwalk. Chaves, who hails from French Polynesia, wore a traditional outfit made of Tahitian chocolate.
Designer Elsa Muse described the level of work which goes into such a dress. For her dress, she made 2000 individual chocolate pearls and covered them in different textures using cocoa powder and crushed cocoa to create a pattern, before threading each pearl onto an elastic string to be attached to the dress.
The Paris Chocolate Fair, which runs until November 3, brings together 500 participants and chocolate from 20 countries. Visitors can attend chocolate-making demonstrations, an exhibition on the history of the chocolate fashion show, or sample the creations of 230 different exhibitors.
