Fashion and Photography Exhibits in Paris

Wednesday May 27 was another hot day in Paris.  High of 31C.   Apparently, the heat wave is going to last until Sunday.  We are managing well and are very lucky that our host has an excellent plug-in Dyson fan that cools the entire apartment. 

We headed out late morning to the Marais to see two exhibits- one fashion and one photography.  We took the Metro to Hôtel de Ville (City Hall), a very quick trip.

We stopped for a few minutes at l'Appartement Français, a new store on the street where we were going.  A lovely concept store with all things made in France.  Alain bought a pair of socks and we had a nice chat with the salesperson who was a huge basketball fan.  He knew all about the Raptors and we chatted about the current Western Conference finals.

Outside of L'Appartement Français

 

Our first destination was an exhibit entitled: Azzedine Alaïa and Christian Dior: Two Masters of Haute Couture.  The exhibition was held at the Azzedine Alaïa Foundation at 18 rue del la Verrerie, where Alaïa lived and worked.  Alaïa (born 1935 (Tunis, Tunisia - died 2017 Paris) came to Paris in 1956 and worked for a number of designers.  He opened his first atelier in 1979 and had his first ready-to wear collection in 1980.  His designs were known for their tight fit, deft tailoring and inventive use of knits.  He was very influential during the 1980s.  He was an avid collector of designers and had acquired more than 500 Christian Dior designs, thus protecting them from loss or damage.  He was a great admirer of Dior (1905-1957) and shared Dior's taste for accentuated waists, sculpted shoulders, and voluminous skirts.

In 2007, Alaïa, his long time partner, and his publisher, founded the Association Azzedine Alaïa, later becoming the Azzedine Alaïa Foundation .  The missions of the Foundation are the conservation and enhancement of the work of Alaïa and the works that he collected during his lifetime.  There is a second site of the Foundation in Tunisia.

Entrance into Alaïa Foundation building (plaque beside the entrance way)

There was a long entrance way with a café and bookstore leading to the exhibit space.

The exhibition brings together nearly 70 designs by the two couturiers.  There is a subtle dialogue between   the two designers.  The Dior influences from the 1950s are clear, but Alaïa's designers are unique and innovative in their own way.   It was a fabulous exhibit in Alaïa's beautiful atelier and home.

Dior on the left, 1957, Alaïa 1958 on the right- one of his first creations designed to resemble a Dior

Dior Secret on the left, Autumn-Winter 1957 (note that the vast majority of Dior pieces have specific names) and Alaïa on the right, Autumn-Winter 2008.

Alaïa, ca 1965

Dior Romance, Spring-Summer 1956

In Dior's Romance, sequins  and glass beads hug the body through delicate mesh and floral medallions.  In Alaïa's creation (below) the beaded mesh wraps around the body

Alaïa, Spring-Summer 1989.  Tina Turner wore this dress in one of her most iconic portraits, photographed by Peter Lindbergh.

Dior Maxim's, Autumn-Winter 1956 on the left, Ailïa, Spring--Summer 1990 on the right

Ailïa, Autumn-Winter 2010 on the left had a corset belt on the outside of the dress.  Dior, Venezuela, Autumn-Winter 1957, on the right, is one of Dior's most frequently interpreted models within his atelier.  It was created for Dior's final collection.  It contains an integrated corset hidden within the construction of the garment, shaping the hourglass silhouette.

Ailïa Spring Summer 2007 on the left, Dior Courteline, Spring-Summer 1952 on the right

Ailïa, Autumn-Winter 2009 on the left with fringe; Dior Intrigue Autumn- Winter 1949 on the right.

Dior Andalouse, Spring-Summer, 1955 on the left- inspiration for a number of Alaïa dresses; Alaïa, Spring-Summer 2013, long sleeveless dress in raspberry viscose and silk knit; ruffled skirt on the right.

Dior Carmen, Autumn-Winter 1951 on the left; Alaïa, Autumn-Winter 2016 on the right.

It was a beautifully curated in a fantastic space.

View of the display in the building.

We then went upstairs where there were some additional pieces as well as Alaïa's perfectly preserved Studio which can be viewed through a round window.  The studio remains exactly as he left it, with the last dress he was working on, on the tailor's dummy.  Nothing has been touched in the studio.

There were two quotes on the wall going up the stairs.  Dior had wanted to be an architect and applied principles of architecture while Alaia had initially wanted to be a sculptor and that approach is found in his work.  Two incredibly, talented designers!

It was very interesting being able to peer through a glass wall into his perfectly preserved studio.  

Through the glass window

Another view into the studio- exactly as he left it in 2017

The second floor had only a small number of clothes next to the window looking into the large studio.

We headed back down to the main floor.

There were some very fashionable folks enjoying the exhibit

Café at the Alaïa Foundation-- just in front of the exhibit

It was a fantastic exhibit.  It is always amazing to see how a creative designer is influenced by earlier designers yet creates new and innovative work  Azzedine Alaïa lived a life filled with fashion, art, design, architecture, music and theatre.  A true innovator as was Christian Dior, who unfortunately died too young.

Nearby street with Les Mauvais Garçons restaurant--- Alain, the OG bad boy outside.

We walked over to City Hall (Hôtel de Ville) to see the Hommage à Sebastião Salgado photography exhibit.  

Outside City Hall

In the exhibition room

Salgado was born in Brazil in 1944 and died in Paris on May 23, 2025.  He is known for his black-and-white photographs from all corners of the globe.  The retrospective exhibit contains nearly 200 photographs captured during his extensive career.  It is curated by his wife, Lélia Wanick Salgado.  The photos capture the Amazon rainforest, the gold mines of Brazil, the 1975 civil war in Angola and many more highlights from his career.  He and his wife settled in Paris in 1969 after fleeing the Brazilian dictatorship.  In 2024, he photographed Paris throughout the four seasons.  A number of these photos are exhibited for the first time.  He was committed to an ecologically and socially just world.  Salgado received numerous awards throughout his lifetime.

During Angola's second war of liberation, 1975

The outskirts of Guatemala City, 1978

A thanksgiving prayer to the Mixe god Kioga in gratitude for the good harvest, Oaxaca, Mexico. 1980

The massive textile plant has more than one thousand wool-weaving looms.  Kustanai, Kazakhstan, 1991

The gold mine, Serra Pelada, State of Pará, Brazil, 1986

In the open-top mine at Serra Pelada, flat terraces are formed by the bulldozers.  
State of Pará, Brazil, 1986

The flanks of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle were built in the workshop and transferred by Frances to dry dock. Brest, France, 1990

Marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus crostatas), Galapagos, Ecuador, 2004

Saunders Island is inhabited by penguins, notably the chinstrap (Pygoscelis antarctica.  
South Sandwich Islands, 2009

Bighorn Creek in the western part of Kluane National Park, Canada, 2011

The last pictures were from the 2024 Paris series.

Académie des beaux-arts seen from the Pont des Arts, Paris, 2024

The Pont Neuf and the Île de la Cité, Paris, 2024

Canal Saint-Martin, Paris, 2024 ----- Alain and I were just there yesterday.  

It was an excellent exhibition.  We have seem a number of his environmental and mining photos before.  This exhibit highlighted photos from his entire career.   His large works dealing with mining and other industries were clearly influential on Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky, though the latter's works are in colour.  Their work has been shown together in Toronto.

We left City Hall and found a small outdoor farmer's market.

The fruit is wonderful this time in Paris.  Also the veg-
we bought some small artichokes, green beans and a lettuce.

It was then time for lunch.  No one was sitting in the sun but there was a covered area across from the restaurant located in an alley just up from the Seine.  We have had lunch at L'Ébouillanté in the past.  

Facing the restaurant from a covered area

We shared a very good salad with tuna, fennel, tomatoes, capers and olives.  I had a cold home-made bissap drink- a beverage originating from Africa, made from hibiscus flowers.

We wandered a bit more and checked out a few of our favourite Marais stores.   We bought some poppy seed cake and apple cake  at Sacha Finkelsztajn-La Boutique Jaune on Rue des Rosters (opened in 1946) (I forgot to take a picture).   It was then time for a coffee at Cortado, a buzzy coffee shop serving wonderful Nomad beans from Spain.  I had an iced Americano and Alain had a flat white.

Buzzy place - lots of people having cold coffee drinks or lemonade (very popular in Paris)

Outside of Cortado

We did some more wandering and saw an intriguing store called Not Typical Parisian.  It has some interesting clothes by a young Parisian designer as well as some jewellery and other accessories by a few others.  I bought an interesting summer top.

Outside of store (lots of reflection)

Limited selection of clothes and accessories 

Their T shirt and totes were very hip.

We then headed to my favourite purse store- Jack Gomme, where they have wonderful light bags made of innovative technical materials.  They are celebrating 40 years of business.

New Collection

Small store on a quiet Marais street

We were very close to Rue Bretagne, which has a number of very good cheese shops, butchers and wine stores as well as cafés and restaurants.  We stopped for some brebis (sheep cheese) at one of our favourite cheese stores and then bought some chicken at the Boucherie du Marais where the meat was beautifully displayed.  We also bought a bottle of red wine at one of the wine stores on the street.  The man at the wine store helped us choose a good bottle.

Fromagerie run by a father and son

Boucherie du Marais (Alain checking out the meat)

Beautifully displayed and labelled.  The butcher even filleted our chicken breast.

We wandered over to Rue Beaumarchais and took the Metro back to our apartment.  Chef Alain made a lovely chicken dinner with steamed artichokes and a salad.  Poppy seed cake for dessert and a glass of a good red wine.