The first retrospective showing the talents of the genius seamstress and designer who passed away less than a decade ago and influenced nearly fifty years of fashion by sculpting fabric as if it were stone…

photo: © Stéphane Piera / Galliera / Roger-Viollet

Asymmetric dresses, draped Roman-style on the body, voluminous dresses made of faille or taffeta: it was the extraordinary creations of Madame Grès that set here apart from her contemporaries. You can recognise her work by its purity. The apparent simplicity of her art always hides the extreme complexity of her skills.

photo: © Henry Clarke, Musée Galliera/Adagp, Paris

The exhibition brings together 80 pieces lent by the Musée Galliera Paris fashion museum (currently closed for renovation) and private collections, presented together with fifty original photos by the likes of Richard Avedon and Guy Bourdin. The astonishing and meticulous work of Madame Grès is still an inspiration for today’s designers. Something astonishing to rediscover then!

photo: Crespi, photo extraite de Femina © Droits réservés

You’ll find more information (in French) on the official site here.

The exhibition Madame Grès – la couture à l’œuvre is at the Musée Bourdelle (here) until 28th August 2010

Ouvert du mardi au dimanche de 10h à 18h sauf jours fériés

Entrée 7€/5€

Site officiel : www.bourdelle.paris.fr

For those who missed the monumental exhibition at the Petit Palais last summer, or those who simply would like to learn more about the fashion designer’s art, the Fondation Yves Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent has this new exhibition on offer, based around Yves Saint Laurent’s ‘more affordable’ line, a political act (or so says the press release) supposed to allow the everyday woman access to the world of high fashion…

photo: Sophie Carr

The Rive Gauche collection by Yves Saint Laurent was aimed at young, active, free women and comprised clothes for all times of day, from early morning to late night clubbing! It is with the Rive Gauche line that Yves Saint Laurent first borrowed certain clothes from the male catalogue (such as suits) and adapted them to women. At the time, it was a revolution…

photo: Sophie Carr

Back then you had to be a fairly fearless woman sure of her femininity to get away with it, but it was a time of radical change for women in society, and the Rive Gauche collection from Yves Saint Laurent was part of the impetus for this change.

photo: Sophie Carr

The exhibition takes the form of a mock-up of the old Yves Saint Laurent boutique that was situated at 21 rue Tournon (a couple of minutes from the Hôtel Jardin de l’Odéon, if you want to do the pilgrimage there!). Customers were greeted by a life-size portrait of the man himself, and the back of the boutique gave onto a courtyard with sculptures by Niki de Saint Phalle. Definitely a fashionable place to be…

photo: Sophie Carr

In conjunction with the exhibition, a catalogue is being published with the full story of the brand (176 pages, 150 illustrations, 33.25€ here via amazon.fr)The exhibition Saint Laurent Rive Gauche is at the Fondation Yves Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent (here) until 17th July 2011.

Open every day except Mondays and public holidays from 11am – 6pm (last ticket at 5.30pm).

Admission: 7€/5€. Free for under 10-s and the (French) unemployed.

Official site: www.fondation-pb-ysl.net

For more info, check out the full press release below. Click fullscreen to save your eye!

Do you dream of strutting your stuff on a Paris catwalk? Do you take care over what you wear, and make Lady Gaga look like a tired old clothes horse? Well listen up sister, ‘cos this is for you! The Galeries Lafayette department store is organising the biggest fahsion show in the world in front of their store on boulevard Haussmann (as well as throughout France and in Berlin) and you can take part! Time to sign up! Fashion is You, that’s the slogan the Galeries Lafayette is using for this event, and if you have a sassy look, it could be your chance to get yourself noticed. You’ll be just one person in a crowd of 10,000, but don’t let that discourage you. Maybe you will get chosen, and feature in the fall fashion catalogues? They are looking for fifty new models, after all. You just have to sign up (here) before 18th September  and post your best looks to the Galeries Lafayette website. If you’re chosen, you’ll soon be part of the biggest fashion show in the world, walking down a runway 2km long!The event will be record for the Guinness Book of World Records and just before it starts you’ll be able to take advantage of the professional make-up artists and hairdresser on-site who will make sure you look absolutely fabulous, darling!

The world’s biggest fashion show in on 30th September 2010 in Paris. More info here.

photo : JasonW

It’s an exhibition (and a few performances) on the bleeding edge between modern art and fashion, with installations by fashion designers showing off their universe and imagination, but not their clothes. Intrigued? Scared? More details this way…

photo : A. Morin

Be prepared to wade through the complicated but brilliant minds of Hussein Chalayan, Maison Martin Margiela, Gaspard Yurkievich, Raf Simons (and many more).

For examaple, Raf Simons presents Repeat, a video installation on 23 screens, Maison Martin Margiela shows slats of wood covered with lifesize photos of an interior, and Gaspard Yurkievich gives a glimpse of one scene from his Transhumance performance with Cocorosie, first shown at the Pompidou Centre lest spring.

The exhibition is accompanied by a special project called PARASITE, a hybrid space between gallery and shop, given over to noew designers and fenced off by an ephemeral structure, a sort of labyrinth of Wallscapes designed by the French-German duo BLESS.

At the end of November, Dysfashional will leave for Berlin, where it will be shown starting June 2010.

Dysfashional is at the Passage du Désir (here) from 30th Ocrober – 29th November 2009. Admission free!

Official site: www.passagedudesir.com

An open air exhibition to celebrate 90 years of Vogue magazine, with an iconic retrospective of cover images.

Gere’s how to experience the evolution of fashion – and photography – of the last 90 years. With the most striking and beautiful Vogue covers being shown in the open air, a walk down the Champs Elysées is like stepping back in time!

With 80 covers (why not 90?) you’ll see work by some of the world’s most famous photographers: Richard Avedon, Bakst, Cecil Beaton, Benito, Christian Bérard, Guy Bourdin, Salvador Dali, Patrick Demarchelier, Robert Doisneau, David Hockney, Horst, Hoyningen-Huene, William Klein, George Lepape, Man Ray, Mert & Marcus, Joan Miró, Helmut Newton, Irving Penn, Edward Steichen, Mario Testino, Andy Warhol, Bruce Weber…

And a book is being published for the even as well, with 122 cover shots (more than the exhibition then!) Expect to pay around 37€ at amazon.fr

The open air exhibition Vogue Covers runs from 1st October – 1st November 2009 on the avenue des Champs Elysées (most likely the lower part near the Place de la Concorde).

And of course all Vogue junkies should be at cinemas right now watching this…