Art and luxury often go hand in hand. The installations by artists in the shop windows and on the grounds of the Parisian department store La Samaritaine provide impressive – or, to use the words of philosopher Gilles Lipovetsky, art capitalist – proof of this.
The ‘Samaritaine en Mode Arty’ happening, planned during Paris Fashion Week and until the end of October 2022, shows the department store’s will to position itself with art curation, just as it sees its fashion selection as inspiration. The new shop windows of La Samaritaine on Rue de Rivoli, a decoration of the pedestrian bridge and new wall coverings were inaugurated at the beginning of September. This collaboration between fashion and art was entrusted to female artists in an ‘art therapy’ concept that quickly evolved into an emphasis on the feminine.
La Samaritaine with art and pop influences
“As a rule, shops hire window designers to design their shop windows. La Samaritaine breaks new ground and commissions the artist Marion Flament. She wanted to empathize with the history of the smallest Parisian department store and immersed the clothes and fashion accessories in her luminous universe based on the colors of the four elements (earth, water, fire, air). Her midnight blue installation with glowing fireflies is reminiscent of the Belle Époque,” the department store’s press release reads. “La Samaritaine was then the first department store to succumb to this new invention called ‘electricity’ and its windows attracted passers-by like curious moths.” Marion Flament works with recycled ceramics and glass in all its forms – from sand to molten to cast or shaped glass to hand-blown glass. In order not to neglect the lovers of the Pont Neuf, Marion Flament also colors the shop window of the boutique Loulou with a celestial creation of stars and the night firmament.
Inside the department store, the bridge was given a new coat of paint by Cecilia Granara. Inspired by the connection between ceramics and decorative floral motifs in Italian and Moroccan art, she created a work on site that seeks to reproduce the hypnotic character of these motifs (Rivoli building, footbridge. Workshop ‘La magie du Sigil’, Saturday 8 June October, Rivoli building, ground floor). The muralists have all designed works that add an extra dimension to the white walls of the department store.
Just after the Pamela Love jewelery stand is the transparent and embossed work by Ella Bats. The photographer celebrates the birth of love in her Adam and Adam series. The color reveals the energies that flow inside a person: the aura that an I radiates.
Désiré Mohed-Zandi, of Turkish descent, unfolds colorful, sculptural tapestries on a large scale. A complex and harmonious mix of colored threads and embroidery inspired by the looms of her childhood (Rivoli building, escalator, Shinzo area).
Matching the Arty Event, fashion brands have contributed capsule collections and live events
The fashion collective Études establishes a dialogue between art and fashion by honoring Jean-Michel Basquiat with the brand. Visitors: inside the first floor on the Rivoli side, timeless pieces await in a set-up designed entirely by the collective (Rivoli Building, Level 1. Live Show, Saturday 1 October).
Most recently, Shinzo Paris has teamed up with Redskins to reinterpret the quintessential Spark teddy bear in a palette of five new colors, this time using vegetable-tanned leather and organic cotton. A work by Nairone Defives, inspired by the worlds of the two brands, adorns the lining of these limited-edition jackets. Each copy is numbered and signed by the artist and designer, known for his collaborations with famous brands (Rivoli building, first floor).
This article was similarly published on FashionUnited.fr. Translation and editing: Barbara Russ