Elie is my travel buddy.

I proposed a project to MMGNET which would showcase individuals in the fashion industry and would be accompanied by an interview. On my shortlist, Elie’s name stood at the top.

When I attended my first fashion week in Tbilisi, I was the only photographer there. This would have probably been 2014, and the only international guests in attendance were from Kyiv, Moscow, Baku, and maybe/probably Yerevan. It was a small event, which caused me to fall in love with Georgia.

After the rise of Vêtements, Georgia was “on the map” and the fashion week in Tbilisi was attended by journalists, buyers, designers, and photographers from around the world. This is when I met Elie. As usual, I did not speak to her for the first years of seeing her on the street. For some reason this is my behavior with most of the people I photograph. Keep them at a distance in order to maintain a bit of mystery in who they are, to keep them on a pedestal, and lastly to not be let down in case they are…lame.

I’m here to work, not to make friends. But sometimes I make friends. It’s never intentional. I usually sit in silence at fashion dinners if sat next to strangers and wait for them to talk to me first. I’m too scared of rejection to initiate conversation, and normally elect to sit with photographers, as I see them as my equals, and don’t feel so much like I’m down a rung on the fashion ladder.

That’s the long way to introduce this. Sorry.

I ride my bike from the Marais to Saint Germain to get to Elie’s apartment. On my way, I roll past the hotel I stayed at on my first ever trip to Paris with my mom back in the late 90’s. After being buzzed in, I climb to the 700th floor of the building and Elie lets me inside. There are macrons on the table, and she offers me tea. We sit and talk and then she shows me around the apartment.

The apartment is essentially one room with a halfway hallway which leads to the kitchen. Most of the apartment is shoes and accessories. There is of course a bed, and a desk for writing, as well. Elie shows me through the Fashion Department of her home.

She picks up shoes and I wrongly guess the brand. Chanel, right? No…. Ok, THOSE ones are Dries? I think I was wrong about them as well. As LCD Soundsystem once said: “I’m Losing My Edge.” She shows me her souvenirs from being a guest at countless resort and cruise destination shows. There are books about fashion as well, of course.

She steals my camera when I’m not looking and takes my photo.

Elie loves fashion. But more importantly, Elie loves Jonathan Anderson. This is not a joke. Before writing this story today, Elie shared a video on her stories of an interview with Jonathan where she is in the background waiting to ask her question. While I’m in her apartment she shows me photos she’s taken on her phone of accessories from the show the day before. A handbag shaped like a bundle of white asparagus is what she’s trying to show me, however the image is far too blurry to tell.

Outside of fashion, Elie and I use our free time to explore when we travel to smaller fashion weeks. In Almaty a walk to the hotel down the river path. A visit to a Kazakh museum. In Chişinǎu, the meat and dairy halls of the Central Market. In Tbilisi, we walk home from dinners, feeding leftover meat we’ve stolen off the table to stray dogs.

Spending time away from home has been one of the best and worst parts of this job. I’ve been to amazing places, and seen amazing things, but somehow, I always feel like I’d rather be sitting on my couch and looking out the window instead. Seems ridiculous, I know. One of the things that makes being on the road much more enjoyable, is having a person with whom to share the experience. Seeing the reaction on Elie’s face as she first sees the decapitated pig-heads in the butcher hall, makes a trip to Moldova much more fun. Looking up at the high Kazakh mountains behind us as we walk home at sunset. Or even just sharing a plate of Khinkali at a way-too-late-dinner in Tbilisi. These are the things which makes having a travel buddy like Elie allow time away from home to be so much more enjoyable.

Thanks, Elie! Where to next!?