PARIS ON THE RUN
Are we ready? This question kept ringing across the national press in... 1924 when Paris was open to the gambling of the world. That year, the 1924 Summer Olympic Games, officially named the Games of the VIII Olympiad, was the seventh edition of the modern Olympic Games. “The Olympic Games are not world championships. They are beyond that. We encircle them in a sort of athletic religiosity to keep the idea alive,” said Baron Pierre de Coubertin, considered by Le Petit Journal on television to be “the President of the Republic of Sports.” A century later, the capital is once again in the running, with the men’s ready-to-wear shows for Spring-Summer 2025 and the Haute Couture Fall-Winter 2024-25 collections right around the corner.
The cultural marathon
For more than a year, the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode has been working closely with the Ministry of Culture, the Préfecture de Police, the City of Paris, the Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Interministerial Delegation for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Executive Committee's first decision was, at the request of the Préfecture de Police, to bump up the Haute Couture calendar by one week, so that it could be completed before July 1, one month ahead of the Olympic Games (from July 26 to August 11, 2024).
In the meantime, it’s time to get your sneakers on and take part in the capital’s cultural marathon on the theme of sport and fashion (see box below). Until January 5, 2025, the Palais Galliera is unveiling La Mode en movement #2. Featuring more than 250 new works, this follow-up exhibition explores the history of fashion from the 18th century to the present day and tackles the cross-disciplinary theme of the body in motion. Meanwhile, the BnF is holding an exhibition on the history of women's sport in France since the end of the 19th century, which entails a dialogue between athletes and art is being staged at the Grand Palais. The Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris is also hosting an exhibition on Art and Sport, while the Musée Marmottan is shedding light on Impressionist painters and their passion for rugby, cycling and rowing. From Olympic medals to the emblematic Louis Vuitton trunk, the list of exhibitions alone is vertiginous.
Athletic style in all forms and fashion
At the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, 450 garments and accessories, photographs, sketches, magazines, posters, paintings, sculptures and videos capture the evolution of sportswear and its influence on contemporary fashion. Jean Patou, Jeanne Lanvin, Gabrielle Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli were among the pioneers who took an interest in the world of sport during the inter-war period and transcribed this into their Haute Couture creations. Fashion owes a number of great classics to sport: the Lacoste shirt (1933), and Gabrielle Chanel’s use of jersey are pioneering examples. The very word ‘sportswear,’ which appeared in the press as early as 1928, and then casual wear, popularised by Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, bear witness to this enduring, contemporary influence. To perfect this unbridled desire for extreme movement, there have been countless collaborations (including with New Balance and Issey Miyake), as well as a surge in the ‘outdoor’ trend, particularly post-Covid. Graphically, there’s the return of the athletic bestiary, from the XL version of the Lacoste crocodile to the Coq Sportif, with whom Stéphane Ashpool, founder of the Pigalle Paris brand, who is collaborating for the French teams' Olympic uniforms. In all, 150,000 items have been planned, including 85,000 for the competition and 65,000 for the Olympic Village. This amounts to a wonderful tribute to the creator, Émile Camuset, who founded the label in 1882 in Romilly-sur-Seine in the Aube region of France. In his textile workshop, this sports enthusiast decided to make jersey shirts for his cycling, football and rugby friends. Department stores are also taking part, with "La Samaritaine se prend au jeu" (the Samaritaine gets caught up in the game). The event provides an opportunity to “return the favour to the founders,” Ernest Cognacq and Marie Louise Jay, who opened the first sports hall for shop employees (1930).
Cocorico
In Paris, some dates are milestones in their own right. Among them: Yves Saint Laurent’s show at the Stade de France for the opening of the football World Cup in 1998; the partnership signed by Dior with Paris Saint Germain, a first of its kind for the fashion house (2021); and the announcement in 2023 of the partnership contract between LVMH and the Olympic Games. In 2024, it was in a Louis Vuitton trunk that the Olympic Torch was revealed in Marseille, before passing into the hands of 10,000 carriers. In addition to the torch trunks, there are medal trunks in the legendary Monogram canvas, which weigh 100 kilos and tripled in weight when filled with 489 radiant trophies. And so history begins to take flight. Berluti, the dressmaker for the opening and closing ceremonies, has produced 1,500 outfits. A matter of style, a matter of brand. The final word? It undoubtedly goes to an artist, Philippe Decouflé, who is being honoured at the CNCS in Moulins, in a colourful flashback to the 1992 Albertville Olympic Games. “I don't like to do something artificial, I need beauty, I need to cry when I do something. I want to be touched and touch people. With the Olympic Games Ceremonies, we were certainly changing scale and dimensions. But it was important to keep in mind this need for emotion – even in a stadium.”
WE RUN TO SEE...
En jeu ! Les artistes et le sport (1870-1930)”, jusqu’au 1er septembre 2024 au musée Marmottan Monet, Paris 16e. https://www.marmottan.fr/expositions/en-jeu/
Kenzo Tange-Kenzo Kuma, architectes des Jeux de Tokyo, jusqu’au 29 juin 2024 à la maison de la culture du Japon à Paris. https://www.mcjp.fr
La Malle Courrier - Louis Vuitton et le sport”, jusqu'en décembre 2024 à la Maison de famille de Louis Vuitton, 92600 Asnières-sur-Seine. https://la-galerie-louisvuitton.seetickets.com/timeslot/malles-courrier?lang=fr-FR
La mode en mouvement#2”, jusqu'au 5 janvier 2025 au Palais Galliera, Paris 16e. https://www.palaisgalliera.paris.fr/fr/expositions/la-mode-en-mouvement
D’or, d’argent et de bronze, une histoire de la médaille Olympique, Monnaie de Paris, juqu’au 22 septembre 2024
https://www.monnaiedeparis.fr/fr/exposition-or-argent-bronze-medailles-olympiques
« Match. Design & Sport”, exposition jusqu’au 11 août 2024 au musée du Luxembourg, Paris 6e. https://museeduluxembourg.fr/fr/agenda/evenement/match
L'olympisme. Une invention moderne, un héritage antique” n jusqu'au 16 septembre 2024 au musée du Louvre, Paris 1er. https://www.louvre.fr/expositions-et-evenements/expositions/l-olympisme
Olympisme, une histoire du monde ; jusqu'au 8 septembre 2024 au Palais de la Porte Dorée, Paris 12e. https://www.palais-portedoree.fr/programmation/expositions/olympisme-une-histoire-du-monde
Il était une fois les stades” et “Mini Maousse 9. Quand la ville se prend au jeu”, jusqu'au 16 septembre 2024 à la Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine, Paris 16e.
https://www.citedelarchitecture.fr/fr/agenda/exposition/il-etait-une-fois-les-stades
“Planète(s) Découflé”, jusqu’au 5 janvier 2025 au Centre national du costume et de la scène, Moulins 03000.
https://cncs.fr/a-visiter/planetes-decoufle/
André Steiner, le corps entre désir et dépassement, MAHJ, jusqu’au 22 septembre 2024
https://www.mahj.org/fr/programme/andre-steiner-le-corps-entre-desir-et-depassement-30897
La Samaritaine se prend au jeu, jusqu’au 8 septembre 2024 https://www.dfs.com/fr/samaritaine?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhuu6uI2fhgMV96hoCR2HRgxvEAAYASAAEgIJZfD_BwE