I have been to Paris for a couple of days. I have friends there and an exhibition of Dries van Noten is currently on at Les Arts Decoratifs. He is one of my favourite designers, so a visit was required.
Dries van Noten is one of the “Antwerp 6”, a group of influential avant garde fashion designers who graduated from Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts between 1980 and 1981. Dries van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, Walter van Beirendonck, Dirk Van Saene, Dirk Bikkembergs and Marina Yee helped to establish Antwerp as a place for fashion design. Martin Margiela was a contemporary, but not part of the group.
The exhibition is a retrospective of Dries van Noten’s own designs and things that have inspired his work, including earlier designers…Balenciaga and Dior, art, interesting people and his own magnificent home and garden.
Photos were not allowed and I tried to behave, but several others pulled out their cameras and I really wanted to remember what I had seen…I bought the book too. Here is a sneaky look at some of the exhibition.
The second exhibition I attended was Paris Fashion from the 1950s. It is on in this gorgeous building, Palais Galliera. The garden alone made the visit worthwhile.
Drawn from the Palais Galliera collection and sporting the labels of the most famous couturiers, Jacques Heim, Chanel, Schiaparelli, Balenciaga, Jacques Fath, Pierre Balmain, Christian Dior, Jacques Griffey, Hubert de Givenchy and Pierre Cardin, the remarkable pieces making up this exhibition retrace the evolution of the female form through the decade 1947 – 1957: from the birth of the New Look to the death of Christian Dior and the advent of Yves Saint Laurent.
The clothes and accessories are stunning. My favourite area was beachwear from the 1950s. We could do with some of that glamour on our beaches right now.
Photos were not allowed and the exhibition was very crowded…so no photos.
Both exhibitions will finish soon. If you are in Paris try to get to both.