Galeries Lafayette French Touch – Celebrating France’s Creative Energy

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CELEBRATING FRANCE’S CREATIVE ENERGY

Founded over 125 years ago, Galeries Lafayette has always been a showcase for French creativity in its most vibrant and unique forms. From 5 July to 31 August, the quintessential Parisian department store is celebrating the new French Touch in fashion, beauty, homeware and food, with a range of iconic brands, personalities and collectives. As part of the celebrations, the flagship store’s panoramic rooftop terrace is staging this summer’s hottest event, with an exciting and original line-up of both established artists and emerging young talent from the French music scene. The epitome of French flair, Galeries Lafayette is renowned for showcasing the creative freshness of the most promising designers of their generation. This summer, the Paris Haussmann store is renewing the tradition of an under-the[1]dome sensation with an immersive installation, designed by Studio GGSV, that is also reflected in the store’s staircases and display windows.

THE FRENCH TOUCH ON STAGE

Galeries Lafayette is celebrating French creativity in music, film and technology with an arts festival on the Paris Haussmann store’s panoramic rooftop terrace. From 5 to 10 July, the department store is hosting a festival with a rich and eclectic line-up, reflecting the unique, high-octane “French Touch” movement. At the end of each day, a classic French film will be screened in partnership with Gaumont, followed at nightfall by a live concert. And to round off each evening, a DJ set – in partnership with Yves Saint Laurent Beauté – will then transform the rooftop terrace into an outdoor dancefloor. From electronic music and rap to nouvelle chanson, the exceptional line-up highlights both the diversity and distinctiveness of the French music scene, with artists like Yseult, Sofiane Pamart, Étienne de Crécy, Bon Entendeur, Kiddy Smile, Pedro Winter, Julien Granel, Dabeull and Rad Cartier. Throughout the festival, a cryptoart exhibition curated by art collective Obvious examines the relationship between art and artificial intelligence, bringing together several French artists who are blazing the trail in NFTs. Free of charge and open to everyone who signs up online, the festival promises to provide (fresh) insight into the faces and facets that make France unique.

Programme details will be published in real time on the website: Page non trouvée – Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann

ARTISTS

YSEULT
BUSY P
JULIEN GRANEL
KIDDY SMILE
BON ENTENDEUR
ETIENNE DE CRECY
SOFIANE PAMART
DABEULL

PARTNERS

OBVIOUS

Obvious is a French collective of artists and researchers who use artificial intelligence algorithms to create works of art. They made headlines in 2018 when one of their artworks – the first of its kind – was sold at a Christie’s auction in New York. At the crossroads between classical art and cutting-edge technology, their creations are exhibited in some of the world’s leading art galleries. Pioneers in digital art and the first French artists to have created NFTs, they collaborated on an NFT project in 2021 with renowned Parisian art gallery Kamel Mennour. Through their work and their collaborative projects, Obvious aims to contribute to the next visual and artistic revolution by giving creatives in all industries access to the tools developed in research. Throughout the festival, a cryptoart exhibition curated by the collective examines the relationship between art and artificial intelligence, bringing together several French artists who are blazing the trail in NFTs. The exhibition will take place from 6 to 10 July on the rooftop terrace of the Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann store.

YVES SAINT LAURENT BEAUTÉ

The iconic rooftop terrace of Galeries Lafayette’s Paris Haussmann store will be buzzing during the French Touch event thanks to Yves Saint Laurent Beauté. Get ready for five very special nights of music and beauty, every evening at sundown from 5 to 10 July. With a range of festive beauty experiences and some of France’s most talented female DJs, this panoramic outdoor dancefloor is set to be the hottest spot in Paris. Entry via 25 rue de la Chaussée d’Antin – 75009 Paris

GAUMONT

In addition to hosting live concerts and DJ sets, Galeries Lafayette’s rooftop terrace is also turning into a pop-up cinema, for an added touch of culture during the summer festivities. In the evenings of Thursday 7, Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 July, a series of iconic films will be shown on a giant screen, in partnership with Gaumont. The terrace’s panoramic views of Paris provide the perfect setting to (re) discover some of the classics of French cinema. Founded in France in 1895, Gaumont is the oldest film company in the world. Through 126 years of history and innovation, it has built up a catalogue of more than 1,500 titles. Today, Gaumont continues to make local stories for a global audience, while also protecting and promoting France’s cinema heritage. Keenly committed to cultural diversity, Gaumont offers must-see classics and original titles in various languages for cinemas, streaming platforms and television channels worldwide.

THE FRENCH TOUCH UNDER THE DOME

For its French Touch event, Galeries Lafayette is giving carte blanche to Paris-based design duo Gaëlle Gabillet and Stéphane Villard of Studio GGSV to create an exclusive in-store installation – a tribute to contemporary creation inside an historical art nouveau building. Graduates of French design school ENSCI, the pair see space as an opportunity for artistic experimentation. Their dreamlike, pop art-inspired projects create optical illusions, blur the boundaries between reality and fantasy and question our cultural attachment to objects and their purpose. Inspired by the building’s history and architecture, Studio GGSV is taking over three iconic spaces in the Paris Haussmann store to create a unique dialogue between their own aesthetic universe and Galeries Lafayette’s. For the windows on Boulevard Haussmann, the duo have imagined a series of original scenographic installations that pay homage to the store’s majestic glass dome by reproducing and digitally augmenting its striking structure. These references to the store’s key architectural feature provide the perfect backdrop for presenting some of the most quintessential brands and faces of the French Touch, showcasing both Galeries Lafayette’s creative audacity and the art de vivre for which France is famous. Studio GGSV’s creativity continues under the dome, where a massive, pop-up installation turns the heart of the store into a fantastic, mobile landscape imbued with the poetic energy of “a genie suggesting a whole horizon of possible transformations”. Alongside this project designed specifically for the French Touch event, the duo is also inaugurating “Stairway To Heaven”, a permanent artistic commission for one of the store’s historic staircases. Through a trompe-l’oeil fresco inspired by Galeries Lafayette’s unique architectural and decorative heritage, a strange and wondrous landscape unfolds floor by floor, conjuring up worlds with mercurial notions of materiality.

ABOUT STUDIO GGSV

Gaëlle Gabillet and Stéphane Villard teamed up to form Studio GGSV in 2011 after collaborating on “{Objet} Trou Noir”, a design project that won the Carte Blanche category at VIA 2011 and joined Centre Pompidou’s permanent collection in 2017. Much applauded, their project was aligned with such ecodesign principles as the reuse of waste materials, the deconstruction of manufactured products and the “despecialization” of objects. The pair have since developed a multidisciplinary practice that covers everything from exhibition curatorship and object design to scenography and interior architecture. The first French designers to work with Italian brand Gufram, Studio GGSV presented a series of large-format, disco-inspired rugs during Milan Design Week in 2018. That same year, as part of Centre Pompidou’s 40th anniversary celebrations, they created “Galerie Party” – a unique and festive installation for the museum’s children’s gallery. In 2019, after an artistic residency at the prestigious Villa Medici in Rome, the design duo teamed up with architects H2O to renovate Paris’s Museum of Modern Art. The idea behind this joint project was to create “ghost furniture” that fades into the background so as not to detract from the artworks on display. The project earned them a place among the 12 winners of the urban design contest “FAIRE 2018”. Sensitive to the importance of knowledge transfer, Stéphane Villard also teaches at French design school ENSCI. Studio GGSV is reuniting with Galeries Lafayette after designing the exhibition entitled Demain, le Vaisseau Chimère [The Illusive Path to Tomorrow] at the Galerie des Galeries in 2018.

MORE FRENCH TOUCH NEWS

GALLERIES LAFAYETTE X EGONLAB

As part of the French Touch event, Galeries Lafayette explores digital worlds with EGONLAB. Galeries Lafayette is stepping into the digital fashion world in collaboration with EGONLAB. Wonderland – the SS23 collection – is available for preview through a competition offering the chance to win three of the brand’s key pieces in NFT form as part of an immersive, inclusive and all-digital concept. EGONLAB is an emerging French brand founded in 2019. Reflecting its experimental and inclusive DNA, EGONLAB fuses the real and virtual worlds. Combining metaverses, NFTs and augmented reality, EGONLAB has established itself as a pioneering, alternative brand, entirely in step with its times.

PATOU

Galeries Lafayette celebrates the French Touch with Patou. Guillaume Henry took over as artistic director of the Patou fashion house in 2018. His ready-to-wear designs are inspired by Paris, the world of couture and the women around him. It was Jean Patou, founder of the brand, who revolutionised fashion, making sportswear part of an everyday wardrobe. Today, Patou designs couture fashion with a sporty vibe. The pieces are cheerful and affordable, for a chic but relaxed look. Patou leather goods and accessories are available at a new pop-up on the ground floor of the flagship Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann store throughout the French Touch event.

THE FRENCH FASHION INSTITUTE

Galeries Lafayette showcases the best designs from the IFM Graduate Show. The French Touch is also celebrating young designers, turning the spotlight on the collections designed by Master of Arts graduates from the French Fashion Institute (IFM), the culmination of two years of advanced learning in design, research and innovation. Visitors can admire their designs in the store windows and also on the first floor, where the mannequins are on show alongside a selection of shoes and bags created by fashion accessory graduates, including a range of digital accessories designed especially for the Graduate Show and presented at the opening of Paris Fashion Week®

MARTINE GOES TO GALERIES LAFAYETTE

Martine is taking up residence at Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann! Martine is the title character of a much-loved series of books for children. In her latest adventure, she visits Galeries Lafayette, the iconic department store showcasing France’s inimitable art de vivre. In this new story, Martine takes the reader inside the celebrated Parisian department store, for a fascinating look behind the scenes. Together with her friend Violette and her faithful dog Patapouf, Martine ventures into every corner of the building, learning about the exciting history of the Boulevard Haussmann store with its majestic dome. This captivating children’s story takes an engaging look at the life of the store from a personal and exclusive angle. ON SALE ONLY AT GALERIES LAFAYETTE PARIS HAUSSMANN Gilbert Delahaye and Marcel Marlier Éditions Casterman x Galeries Lafayette From 5 upwards. Price: €6.95

LE CENTRE DES MONUMENTS NATIONAUX

Le Centre des Monuments Nationaux and Galeries Lafayette team up to showcase French heritage. As part of the French Touch event, Galeries Lafayette and the Centre des Monuments Nationaux (CMN) have partnered to showcase French heritage with a pop-up exhibition in the flagship store on Boulevard Haussmann. The event features the photos of artist Ambroise Tézenas, who tracked the extensive renovation of Hôtel de la Marine in Paris, prior to its re-opening in June 2021. The Centre des Monuments Nationaux is France’s leading public body in culture and tourism, with nearly 10 million visitors per year. Its role involves maintaining exceptional heritage sites and opening them to the public. The diversity of the 100 or so sites managed by the CMN reflects France’s rich heritage. They include the archaeological sites of Glanum and Carnac, the abbeys of Montmajour and Mont-Saint-Michel, the castles of If and Azay-le-Rideau, the national estate of Saint-Cloud, as well as the Arc de Triomphe, Villa Savoye and Villa Cavrois. – Find the pop-up on the third floor of the Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann Coupole store from 5 July to 31 August 2022.

Rounding-up at the cash desk during the French Touch event. Throughout the French Touch event, customers at Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann are invited to round up their purchases at the checkout. As part of the collaboration with the Centre des Monuments Nationaux, they can also make a donation towards the protection of the French national heritage sites under its management.

INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS

La French Touch, French creativity in motion

La French Touch is a movement powered by entrepreneurs and designers from the cultural and creative sectors, and supported by the investment bank Bpifrance. It seeks to promote and develop a wide range of spheres – fashion, cinema, video games, publishing, music, the arts and heritage – all of which are key to the performance and competitive edge of the French economy. Represented by a bright orange rooster symbolising the French nation, the aim is to build a community around a shared goal: to promote La French Touch nationally and around the world. This purpose resonates perfectly with Galeries Lafayette. Founded over 125 years ago, the department store has always been a showcase for French creativity in its most vibrant and unique forms. This summer’s French Touch event at the flagship store on Boulevard Haussmann provides a unique showcase for France’s most iconic brands, personalities and collectives. Working alongside brands and entrepreneurs, La French Touch provides financing and consultancy, from the earliest stages of project development through to maturity. Since early 2020, Bpifrance has invested €3 billion in these sectors. To find out more, visit the website la-frenchtouch.fr.

THE PARIS REGION TOURIST BOARD COMMITTEE

The Paris Region Tourist Board Committee is the leading public organisation for tourism in Paris and the surrounding area. Offering services for tourism providers and visitors, its role is to promote and develop Paris as a destination for both business and pleasure. The official website for the Paris Region: http://www.visitparisregion.com/en #visitparisregion

ATOUT FRANCE

Through its #ExploreFrance campaign, the national tourism development agency is inviting visitors from around the world to discover everything France has to offer. Atout France helps tourism firms to promote their activities worldwide, and to develop services tailored to the expectations of travellers. More information on france.fr, atout-france.fr #explorefrance

THE FRENCH TOUCH SELECTION