Thursday March 16 was a beautiful, sunny day with a high of 18C. We headed out to Jack Gomme about a 30 minute walk from the apartment to pick up the bag I had ordered from the Marais store.
Google Maps sent us on a bit of a round about route, but we walked through a nice farmers' market on Boulevard de Port-Royal, which turns into Boulevard du Montparnasse.
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| Lots of nice fruits and veg |
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| In season produce |
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| Flowers too |
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| We passed the famous brasserie La Closerie des Lilas, once a favourite of Hemingway |
After picking up my bag, we took the Métro to the 16th arrondissement to see the
Gold exhibit at the Musée Yves Saint Laurent.
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| The entrance to the Museum |
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| Poster for the exhibit: Gold by Yves Saint Laurent |
2022 marked the 60th anniversary of the first Yves Saint Laurent collection under his name as well as the 5th anniversary of the opening of the Museum. The exhibit Gold by Yves Saint Laurent celebrates the occasion by examining the role that gold played in the couturier's work.
The exhibit started with the gold buttons on his pea coats and ended with dresses that appear entirely fashioned from gold. In 1968, Saint Laurent said that buttons "shine, add joy to an ensemble, and serve a purpose, they have a great reason for being and offer a woman the option of not wearing jewellery during the day. They allow them to reserve their jewellery for the evenings".
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| Jackets with gilded buttons from 1965, 1966 and 1988 collections |
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| Showcase of curiosities that capture the eye- diverse objects from the collection |
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| Dresses from 1966 collections- waist is less conspicuous and legs are revealed- "reflecting the emancipation of women underway in the 1960s." |
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| Another cabinet of curiosities |
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Saint Laurent saw belts as real jewelry. From the haute couture and rive gauche collections of 1972
and 1993. Some of the belts formed the words parfum, soleil and aurore (sunrise). |
The Belgian artist Johan Creten was invited to exhibit several of his works alongside outfits by Saint Laurent.
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| Johan Creten (b. 1963), Zwam, 3, 4 and 5, 2019 (Glazed stoneware, gold luster) |
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| Johan Creten, 3 Double Sunbursts and 3 Sunbursts on the Wall, 2018 (Glazed stoneware, gold luster) |
Gold has been present in Saint Laurent's creations since his spring-summer 1962 haute couture collection. He started with gilded buttons and then in the fall-winter 1966 collection, gold appeared in cocktail and evening ensembles.
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| From collections between 1979 and 1995 |
Saint Laurent, in 1977, said:
I like muted colours during the day because I find that bright colours don't blend well with the light of Paris, whereas in the evening I want women to appear like birds of paradise.
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| A beautiful display of golden outfits |
There was a small room along the path of the exhibit with a short video of Saint Laurent's career. He was born in 1936 in Oran, French Algeria. At the age of 17, he moved to Paris and enrolled at the Chamber Syndicale de la Haute Couture. He was hired by Dior in 1955. In August 1957, Dior told Saint Laurent's mother that he had chosen Saint Laurent to succeed him as a designer.
In October, 1957, Dior died of a massive heart attack in Italy and Saint Laurent became the head designer of the House of Dior at only 21. His spring 1958 collection saved the enterprise from financial ruin. In 1962, Saint Laurent and his partner, industrialist Pierre Bergé started their own fashion house. The couple split romantically in 1976, but remained business partners.
There were some great photos in the video and a focus on excerpts from runway shows that featured gold clothing. Saint Laurent closed his haute couture House in 2002 and died in 2008. His ashes were scattered in Marrakech, Morocco in the Majorelle garden, a residence and botanical garden that he owned with Bergé.
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| Swinging 60s-- boutiques opened all over France |
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| Drawings |
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| Runway shows |
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| More golden clothes (mostly from the 1980s) |
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| More golden outfits |
Beginning at the end of the 1960s, Paris saw the emergence of trendy clubs that revolutionised the city's nightlife. The dress code was glamourous-chic. For the opening of the legendary Palace, on March 1, 1978, the invitation card made it clear: "Tuxedo, evening gown or anything that suits the occasion." Saint Laurent was a regular at these Parisian nightspots. In 1967, he met Betty Catroux, whom he considered his female double. She became his accomplice when exploring Paris by night. Gold was perfect for the nightclub scene.
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| Wall of photos with Saint Laurent and friends at the clubs |
The studio at 5 avenue Marceau has being preserved as it was when the haute couture house closed in 2002. Saint Laurent worked there every day, surrounded by six or seven colleagues. The creations exhibited in the studio vary according to the exhibition underway at the Museum. A gold embodied jacket was on display for this exhibit. It was worn by Loulou de La Falaise and Paloma Picasso.
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| View of the studio |
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| Gold embroidered jacket displayed in the studio |
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| One wall of the studio |
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| Michel Dufour, Pierre Bergé, Yves Saint Laurent and Betty Catroux, La Palace, Paris 1980s |
Towards the end of the exhibit, there was a display case of accessories, installed by Anna Klossowski, the daughter of Loulou de La Falaise (1947-2011) who was the couturier's accomplice for nearly 30 years and who had an innovative approach to accessories, combining different styles and materials. Klossowski, also the goddaughter of Saint Laurent, is an art historian and exhibition curator.
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| Light Me Up!, Installation by Anna Klossowski- from haute couture collections 1962-2002 |
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| Gorgeous necklaces |
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| Different materials |
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| The Jewel Dress- sequins and precious stones, paid homage to Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt. It was photographed by David Bailey for the December 1966 edition of Vogue Paris. |
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| Cardigan from an Evening Ensemble, Autumn-winter 1973, Haute Couture collection |
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| Jumpsuit designed for Sylvie Vartan in 1972. |
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| Homage to Elsa Schiaparelli- a jacket poem |
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| Tribute to Jean Coceau, Autumn-winter 1980, haute couture collection |
In addition to the exhibit, there was a large room which set out Saint Laurent's biography, had pictures from his homes in Paris and Marrakech with Pierre Bergé (1930-2017) and with his models and friends.
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| Françoise Huguier (b. 1942), Yves Saint Laurent and the models after spring-summer 1984 |
In 1998, Saint Laurent staged a monumental fashion show at the Stade de France for the FIFA World Cup. There were 300 designs and 900 people helped organize the 15 minute event, which was viewed by 1.7 billion people on live television. At the end of the show the models formed the YSL logo.
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| Unknown photographer, Retrospective runway show with 300 models at the final match of the World Cup, Stade de France, Saint-Denis, July 12, 1998 |
The Museum, which is located on the premises of Saint Laurent's haute couture house from 1974-2002, opened in 2017. At the time, it was the first museum of this scale, dedicated to the work of one of the 20th centuries greatest couturiers, to open in Paris, the capital of fashion. The temporary exhibits are always interesting and well presented. A lovely small museum to visit.
We then made our way to the new fashion museum dedicated to Christian Dior just a few blocks away.
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| An opportunity to take a photo of the Eiffel Tower |
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| In front of the Louis Vuitton store on Rue Montaigne |
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| Outside of Paco Rabanne store on Avenue Montaigne |
First we walked by the Dior store at 30 Avenue Montaigne. The windows were wonderful, with owls and peacocks and other animals along with the Spring fashion.
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| Dior windows in the store |
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| Another window |
The entrance to the new museum
La Galerie Dior is on 11 Rue François 1er. It is located in the same building as the store, the former private mansion of Christian Dior, but has a separate entrance. There are 13 rooms in
La Galerie. We were not expecting such an extensive space devoted to the House of Dior's history.
The museum starts with the life of Christian Dior (1905-1957) and has dresses and accessories designed by Dior and the six Creative Directors that have followed him. They are: Yves Saint Laurent (1957-1960), Marc Bohan (1960-1989), Gianfranco Ferré (1989-1997), John Galliano (1997-2011), Raf Simons (2012-2015) and Maria Grazia Chiuri (2016-the present).
There is a winding staircase with 1500 miniature objects from the world of Dior, organized by colours. One walks to the top of the staircase to the beginning of the exhibit and make ones way back to the ground floor.
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| The miniatures |
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| Looking up |
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| More colours |
Christian Dior was born in Granville, Normany on January 21, 1905. His childhood home was the beautiful
Les Rhumbs villa. His father owned factories for making fertilisers and chemicals, founded in 1832 by a great-great-grandfather.
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| Family history and childhood in Granville |
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| House and gardens |
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House in the background- plastered with a very soft pink mixed with grey gravel-
two of Dior's favourite colours in couture. |
At a young age, Dior discovered a passion for flowers. Many years later, the theme of flowers and gardens would become a source of inspiration for his collections.
Dior was passionate about art in all its forms. Fascinated by the avant-garde movements of the time, he left the Paris Institute of Political Studies to open a gallery at the age of 23. He then worked as an illustrator, learnt the art of creating prototypes from Robert Piguet in 1938 and refined his style at the house of Lucien Lelong. He founded his House in 1946, his silhouettes celebrated the sense of joie de vivre after the dark times of war-in particular the iconic New Look.
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Pleated medallion for the Miss Dior perfume designed by the decorator Victor Grandpierre
for Christian Dior, circa 1950 |
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| Fred Brommet (1924-2008), the team |
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| Caramba, Haute Couture Autumn-Winter, 1956 |
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| Mazette, Haute Couture Autumn-Winter, 1954 |
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Dior being awarded the Legion of Honour by James de Coquet,
senior reporter at Le Figaro, February 9 1950
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| Dior's medal of the Legion of Honour, 1950 |
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| Excerpt from Elle magazine, August 18, 1951. A sectional view of the townhouse at the corner of Avenue Montaigne and the Rue François 1er shows the organization of the fashion house |
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| Guestbook from his last home in Montauroux, near Grasse brings together signatures from friends, including Marc Chagall, circa 1956 |
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| Willy Maywald (1907-1985), La Colle Noire estate, circa 1956 |
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| Dior's apartment at 7 Boulevard Jules-Sandeau in Paris, circa 1950 |
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| Time magazine, March 4, 1957-- Dior became the first French couturier to appear on the cover of Time, since Elsa Schiaparelli in 1934. He was celebrating the 10th anniversary of the New Look. |
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| Death announcement card, October 24, 1957. |
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| Articles in Paris Match, November 2 and 9, 1957 |
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| The New Look |
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| Bar, Haute couture Spring-Summer 2947, afternoon suit |
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| Raf Simons, 2014, Marc Bohan, 1961, Gianfranco Ferré, 1990 |
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| Maria Grazia Chiuri, labyrinth de fleurs, Haute Couture Spring-summer, 2017 |
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| Raf Simons, Haute Couture Autumn-Winter 2012 |
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Dior, (white dress) 1957, Yves Saint Laurent (1958- green silk with bows). Picture of Dior's
childhood house in the background. |
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| Dior, Florence, Haute Couture Autumn-Winter 1947, Corolla line, red dress |
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John Galliano, Haute Couture Autumn Winter 2010, white organza,
handprinted by the house of Anne Gelbard |
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Maria Grazia Chiuri, Abandon, Haute Couture Autumn-winter 2017
(based on Dior's design Abandon, Autumn-Winter 1948) |
In 2016, Maria Grazia Chiuri asked Sarah Moon to interpret her very first collection for Dior. This series of images goes back in time from Chiuri to Dior. Moon was able to capture the many facets of Dior's style.
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| Chiuri, Robe Abandon, 2017 |
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| Raf Simon, Ensemble 2013 |
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| Raf Simons Haute-Couture Autumn-Winter 2013 |
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| John Galliano, Haute Couture Spring-Summer 1999 |
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| Yves Saint Laurent, Robe, Haute Couture Spring-Summer, 1959 |
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| Dior's office restored to what it was in the early years of the House |
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| Dior designed dresses |
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| Paul Strecker (1898-1950), Portrait of Christian Dior, circa 1928 |
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John Galliano, Haute Couture Autumn-Winter 2007 (painted by Anne Gelbord Atelier and embroidered by the house of Salfrane) and Haute Couture Spring- Summer1999
(sheath dress in crepe, jewel necklace collar) |
There was a bright salon with the white toiles, renderings of a sketch in 3D. They are the genesis of the Haute Couture models. Dior said that "Couture is the marriage of design and material."
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| White toiles |
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| Gold used in the J'adore perfume ads. The perfume was created in 1999. |
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| Maria Grazia Chiuri, No. 233, Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2020 |
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| A room with amazing dresses |
There were more vitrines with miniatures displayed. The work that goes into these creations is phenomenal.
There was a room full of dresses and photographs of celebrities wearing Dior. "No Dior, no Dietrich," Marlene Dietrich declared to Alfred Hitchcock in 1950, demanding a Dior wardrobe for her role in
Stage Fright. A number of actresses and personalities have linked to the House of Dior over the years.
We started to walk along Rue l'Université on the left bank, but Police had barricaded part of the street near the National Assembly and we had to take a short detour.
Back to the apartment for a late meal. Alain made a salmon dinner with potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, fennel, green salad and we had a glass of red wine. A very full and fashionable day!!
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