You will have to wait until October 6 to discover this new hub of artistic pleasures, but it looks like “L’Ecole des Arts joailliers” (Jewelry school), sponsored by Van Cleef & Arpels, is bound to become the place where to be seen, this fall. The Hotel de Marcy-Argenteau at 16 bis bd Montmartre, between musée Grévin and Hotel Drouot, was … Read More
An ideal outdoor cantina and a nostalgic show at the Saint Laurent museum
I went to see the new Yves Saint Laurent show on “Shapes” which reminded me of the glorious years when anyone could buy a Saint Laurent ready-to-wear outfit because they were cheap. The premises of the Foundation, decorated by Jacques Grange, are elegant and simple but not functional. The rooms are small and on three levels. The whole space will … Read More
At Palais Galliera, fashion autochromes are fabulous
The main exhibition at Palais Galliera, is called “Fashion on the Move” (Until Sept 7) and it is a complicated labyrinth of how fashion evolved with sportswear and automobiles. How the corseted dress disappeared at the beginning of the XX th century and let Jeanne Lanvin‘s sensuous silhouettes replace it. I was very amused by short films shot on the … Read More
Art Nouveau Jewels have a show at Ecole des Arts Joailliers
Ecole des Arts Joailliers created by Van Cleef and Arpels, is discreetly housed behind place Vendôme in a posh building where security is high and the staff extremely graceful. It includes a school which anyone interested in gems can attend and a gallery for exhibitions. While entrance to the shows is free you have to register first before going. This … Read More
Kimsooja breathes in sunshine at Galeries Lafayette
If you feel like going to Galeries Lafayette to discover Korean artist Kimsooja’s installation “To Breathe“, pick a sunny day. Otherwise her light installation will not glitter as it should on the dome of the department store built in 1912. The great bonus of the visit is that for three months the public is allowed to penetrate the space between … Read More
1997 at Palais Galliera, with two funerals and Castelbajac dressing the Pope
I had no idea that 1997 was such an important date in recent fashion, until I visited “Fashion Big Bang” at Palais Galliera and discovered that it is the year when Alexander McQueen presented his first show at Givenchy and John Galliano at Christian Dior. It also marks the unique moment of Jean Charles de Castelbajac designing all the clothes for … Read More
Karl Lagerfeld again! but by a master biographer…
There is something magical about a biography written in a firm style and meticulously researched. There are so many bad books published at the moment, like the completely superficial text on Carlos de Beistegui, that William Middleton’s “Paradise Now, the extraordinary life of Karl Lagerfeld” is a miraculous treasure. The author, whom I discovered with “Double Vision“, an extensive study of … Read More
The Faubourg Saint Honoré is the hip street to visit…
Faubourg Saint Honoré has definitely become more hip these days with contemporary art galleries joining Talabardon et Gautier and Galerie de la Présidence, Sotheby’s and the Canadian Cultural center. The flower shop Lachaume which moved from rue Royale some years ago has even become good again and Nathalie Obadia opened a new show of Collin Sekajugo, an artist from Uganda … Read More