CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN - Palais de la Porte Dorée...4 From 26 February 2020, the Palais de la Porte Dorée presents a major exhibition devoted to the work and creativity of Christian

CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN EXHIBITION[NISTE] PRESS KIT

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CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN

PALAIS DE LA PORTE DORÉE 293 AVENUE DAUMESNIL - 75012 PARIS MÉTRO 8 • TRAMWAY 3A • BUS 46 • PORTE DORÉE

EXHIBITION 26TH FEBRUARY - 26TH JULY

LEXPOSITION.CHRISTIANLOUBOUTIN.COM


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PRESS RELEASE

THE POSTER

INTRODUCTION BY HÉLÈNE ORAIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE PALAIS DE LA PORTE DORÉE

THE EXHIBITION BY OLIVIER GABET, CURATOR OF THE EXHIBITION

THE PALAIS DE LA PORTE DORÉE AS SEEN BY CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN

EXHIBITION ITINERARY

CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTINBIOGRAPHY

OLIVIER GABETBIOGRAPHY

ARTISTS AND CRAFTSPEOPLE IN THE EXHIBITION

VISUALS AVAILABLE FOR PRESS

THE PALAIS DE LA PORTE DORÉE

THE MAISON CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN

BOOK: CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN EXHIBITION[IST]

ARTE DOCUMENTARY

NORDSTROMMAIN SPONSOR OF THE EXHIBITION

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN L’EXHIBITION[NISTE] Press Kit


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« L’Exhibition[niste] is a title that came to me quite quickly. It is a play on the idea of an exhibit and the act of exhibitionism. An exhibit, meaning to expose or display to the public and exhibitionism as drawing attention to oneself. Both are quite close, but I like the more subversive notion that in exhibiting my work I am exposing myself in a more intimate way. I’ve put a lot of myself in this project from both a professional and personal perspective. I reveal a lot of myself, of my inspirations, of my creative processes in this exhibition and I wanted this to be reflected in the title. »

THE POSTER

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From 26 February 2020, the Palais de la Porte Dorée presents a major exhibition devoted to the work and creativity of Christian Louboutin, the internatio-nally renowned footwear designer and key figure in the fashion world. Designed as an invitation to disco-ver Christian Louboutin’s rich universe, the exhibition explores every facet of his multi-referential work, in an institution that has played an important role in inspi-ring his vocation.

From the beginning, Christian Louboutin infused his designs with a great wealth of motifs and colours ins-pired by his love of art and different cultures. Flam-boyant, daring, open to the world, generous and at times caustic, the designer’s creativity is informed by a passion for travel and references from the worlds of pop culture, theatre, dance, literature and cinema. In revealing Christian Louboutin’s inspirations and crea-tive processes, the exhibition showcases the designer’s vision through a selection of the most precious works from his personal collection and loans from public col-lections. A large selection of shoes are on display, some of which have never been exhibited before.

These historic and artistic pieces are shown along-side a number of exclusive collaborations which pay tribute to Christian Louboutin’s admiration for crafts-man’s know how. Some examples include stained glass

panels created by the Maison du Vitrail, a Sevillian silver palanquin and a cabaret sculpted in Bhutan. The exhibi-tion also unveils collaborations, never seen before, with artists who are important to him: the director and pho-tographer David Lynch, the New Zealand multimedia artist Lisa Reihana, the British designer duo Whitaker Malem, the Spanish choreographer Blanca Li, and the Pakistani artist Imran Qureshi, amongst others.

Born in the 12th district of Paris, close to the Palais de la Porte Dorée, Christian Louboutin was fascinated from an early age by the architectural beauty and ornamental richness of the institution, which was one of the earliest influences feeding his love of art and applied arts. He borrowed a whole repertoire of forms and motifs from the Palais for his first designs, including the Maquereau shoe – made of metallic leather and directly inspired by the iridescence of the fish in the Palais de la Porte Dorée’s tropical aquarium. It was also at the Palais, a masterpiece of Art deco, that Christian Louboutin, then a young adolescent, noticed a sign forbidding visitors to wear high heeled shoes. This sign subsequently inspired the iconic Pigalle shoe which has been reinvented over the course of the seasons.

With this exhibition, the Palais de la Porte Dorée ini-tiates a new programme of events dedicated to contem-porary creation.

CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN: THE EXHIBITION[IST]

26 FEBRUARY TO 26 JULY 2020

EXHIBITION CURATOR: OLIVIER GABET, DIRECTOR OF THE MUSÉE DES ARTS DÉCORATIFS

PRESS RELEASE

THE PALAIS DE LA PORTE DORÉE PRESENTS CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN’S RICH CREATIVITY AND HIS SOURCES OF INSPIRATION



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INTRODUCTION

BY HÉLÈNE ORAIN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE PALAIS DE LA PORTE DORÉE

Built for the 1931 Colonial Exhibition, the Palais de la Porte Dorée, with its iconic architecture, frescos and bas-relief facade, is recognised as a masterpiece of the Art Deco period. The monument represents a collaboration of the great artists of the time - architect Albert Laprade, sculptor Alfred Janniot, painter Pierre-Henri Ducos de la Haille, and interior designers Jacques-Émile Rulhmann and Eugène Printz, among others. Since its creation, the exotic design has fascinated visitors and stimulated their imaginations.

Among these visitors was Christian Louboutin. Growing up in the 12th arrondissement he enjoyed spending his Sundays visiting the Palais galleries and aquarium. His ties to the monument are as much artistic as they are emotional. In 2017, Christian Louboutin contacted me. At the time, we were looking for patrons to participate in the restoration of the facades, the furniture of the salons and the museum’s library. It is during conversations with Christian on these projects that we understood the importance of the Palais in his work

and his sources of inspiration. That is when the idea of this exhibition, dedicated to Christian Louboutin’s imagination, was born. We decided to call on Olivier Gabet, Director of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs whose expertise on such exhibitions is well established, to curate the exhibition. With him, this is an exhibition that is poised to be exemplary in every way.

It marks a new chapter in the history of the Palais de la Porte Dorée, with a special programme presenting the many facets of this monument which has remained forgotten for far too long.


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Today fashion is recognized as a key artistic domain, fully represented in all major cultural institutions such as the Palais de la Porte Dorée, Musée d’histoire de l’Immigration, as evidenced by the Fashion-mix exhi-bition in 2014. The creative area that it occupies and the historical, political, social and anthropologi-cal questions that it raises make it an open, popular, inclusive, and universal space that often deeply rede-fines the very principle of access to the museum. For many segments of the population, and in the case of a growing number of first-time visitors, it is usually the reason to visit a cultural institution. Present in many public spaces, in the media and on social media, fashion is an intriguing and fascinating subject.

It is with those considerations in mind that the first major Parisian exhibition of the creations of Christian Louboutin has been conceived at the Palais de la Porte Dorée in 2020, covering nearly 30 years of a proli-fic, learned and joyful activity. More than any other Parisian space, Christian Louboutin cares about the Palais de la Porte Dorée: the neighborhood where he grew up, the museum that he visited as a young boy, when this absolute Art Deco masterpiece then housed the national collections of the Arts of Africa and Oceania. As a young boy, it was the beauty of this architecture, the refinement of its décor and the poe-tic and human magic of those much-admired works, which opened up the imagination to the geography of the world and to all civilizations, that left an impres-sion on Christian Louboutin. It is also the site of an early revelation: the sign forbidding visitors from walking with heels on the museum’s precious floors, the first shoe that was viewed, viewed again and revi-sited, and, forever more, the first step in the world of creativity.

The entire exhibition is a challenge: how to give a sense of the passage of time without stopping it, how to show the designer’s effervescence without sterili-zing it, how to reveal what constituted the network of such vital inspirations and friendships? Christian Louboutin chose a generous approach, reflecting his personality, an imagination and a freedom rooted in a sound knowledge of the world, of art and fashion, a voyage in which inventiveness, emotion and know-how, taste for showmanship and sense of humor are never dissociated. The unprecedented space that Christian Louboutin occupies in the world of contem-porary fashion is also attributable to the fact that his work has its roots in popular culture, in the noblest sense of the word. Through metonymy, in cinema, and music, Louboutins are now the quintessential shoes, favored by all sexes, genders and origins, via the Nudes series. A child of the Palace (the iconic Parisian nightclub in the late 70s and early 80s), Christian Louboutin connected his work and his name very early on to inclusive and positive figures, athletes or musi-cians, as illustrated by the famous photo on the cover of the New York Post in memory of Aretha Franklin: “Going in style, dressed in peace: Fire-red Louboutins, gold-plated coffin, three costume changes.”

THE EXHIBITIONBY OLIVIER GABET CURATOR OF THE EXHIBITION, DIRECTOR OF THE MUSÉE DES ARTS DÉCORATIFS


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The Palais de la Porte Dorée is a place that is very dear to me.

I grew up in the 12th arrondissement and attended the Elisa Lemonnier and Paul Valery lycées, just behind the Palais. I used to spend hours in the cinemas on Avenue Daumesnil, which screened Indian and Egyptian movies at the time. On the weekends, I would regularly go and daydream at the Tropical Aquarium, of the Palais de la Porte Dorée dazzled by the color and luminosity of tro-pical fish, and at the Musée des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie.

I have always been fascinated by the architectu-ral beauty and decorative richness of the Palais de la Porte Dorée, which played a key role in my life. This is where I discovered the diversity of applied and decorative arts for the first time. I was intri-gued by the refinement and the monumentality of Alfred August Janniot’s bas-reliefs, the spectacu-lar frescoes of Ducos de la Haille, and the Ruhl-mann and Printz furniture. This is also where I saw a drawing of a shoe for the first time.

I immersed myself in all of these patterns – abstract and figurative – and they formed a subconscious repertoire of shapes, colors, and textures that never ceased to influence my ima-gination. Infused with a passion for travel – real or imaginary – my universe consists of a jux-

taposition of references borrowed from the arts and cultures of the world, in theater, literature or cinema.

The Palais’ invitation to create an exhibition in this space that showcases all of these inspirations immediately made sense to me. Olivier Gabet has imagined this exhibition as “an immersive pre-sentation of a multi-faceted expression.” There are inescapable moments, because that is also part of my life, but it is primarily an ever-chan-ging process of backs and forths, of discoveries, rediscoveries and above all, encounters.

This exhibition showcases the precious rela-tionships that have marked my journey, through working with craftsmen who possess unique expertise as well as collaborations with artists who are dear to me.

The exhibition concludes with a space that constitutes both my “Imaginary Museum” and a place where any-thing is possible, one simultaneously rooted in the pre-sent and looking towards the future. It includes not only inspirations, but also works that I care about, some of which have been part of my life for several decades.

For me, this exhibition is an opportunity to pay tribute to the Palais, which gave rise to my vocation and that has continued to inspire me ever since.

THE PALAIS DE LA PORTE DORÉEAS SEEN BY CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN


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Divided into ten sections, the exhibition covers nearly 30 years of Christian Louboutin’s crea-tions, highlighting the different sources of inspi-ration and creative processes that characterize the designer’s approach.

1. ANTECHAMBERUpon entering the exhibition, the visitor is welcomed by the very object that serves as the key to this exhi-bition at the Palais de la Porte Dorée: the sign that for-bade the wearing of heels inside the former Musée des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie, which used to be housed in the Palais de la Porte Dorée. This sign, with its sketch of a high-heeled shoe, made an impression on the young Christian Louboutin, who visited the museum regularly and was dazzled by the collections. Christian became such a fan of the museum’s collections that, from the age of 11, he returned to sketch them again and again. This first image would later serve as ins-piration for the Pigalle shoe, one of the best-known models in his collection, which today consists of thou-sands of pairs.2. EARLY YEARS

An extension of the introductory section, this room func-tions as an antechamber to the rooms that follow. The room, with its many stain glass works, brings to life the designer’s early years and highlights his early influences, his apprenticeship in trade, and the world surrounding his creative studio/apartment in the 9th arrondissement of Paris.The room is centered around a selection of Louboutin’s shoes from those that preceded the now iconic red sole to the early 2000s models. They are accompanied by some of his earliest drawings, sketches, works, mood boards and portfolios that Louboutin would use to showcase his work to designers he admired, such as Azzedine Alaïa. The windows in this room, which have been specially designed for the exhibition and made by the Maison du Vitrail in Paris under the direction of the master glass-maker Emmanuelle Andrieux, set out the eight consti-tuent elements of Christian Louboutin’s work: Parisian Women; Theater; Couture; Art; Travel; Craft; Sexuality; and Innovation. The windows also reaffirm his original attachment to the decorative arts and the craft profes-sions, while at the same time self-referencing the type of adoration of shoes which, beyond mere fetishism, runs right through the history of fashion, no longer as acces-sories but as true objets d’art.

EXHIBITION ITINERARY

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3. TREASURE ROOMThe Treasure room brings together Christian Louboutin’s most iconic creations. Each shoe on display embodies a real achievement, whether through the form imagined, the particular materials used, or the inspiration behind the commission, for its originality, or its art historical context. In this room, a shoe made of synthetic crystal by Stéphane Gérard, a sculptor in Paris, is enthroned on a silver palanquin fashioned by the Orfebrería Villarreal in Seville and is decorated with rich embroidery executed in the workshops of the fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee in Kolkata, India. Everything is designed by Christian Louboutin, who demonstrates his affinity and respect for the craftsmen with whom he works closely to create his collections. The shoes are displayed around themes that reveal Christian Louboutin’s eclecticism— couture, travel, the extremes of fantasy and innovation. All of them are in keeping with the strong artistic references that consistently permeate this shoemaker’s work: the his-tory of fashion, with turbaned, pleated nods to the

couturier Madame Grès, or the shoe featuring graphic designer Cassandre’s elegant YSL logo for Yves Saint Laurent’s last haute-couture catwalk show in 2002; primitive art, fed by his fascination for Africa, Oceania, the Americas, Kachina dolls, and Hopi masks; archi-tecture and design, with Oscar Niemeyer and Bodys Isek Kingelez; modern art through the prism of Warhol, in the Pensées.The Treasure room also presents a work specially designed for the exhibition by Pakistani artist Imran Qureshi.

4. NUDES Started in 2013, the Nudes series is seen today as pioneering act in the world of fashion. By imagining a shoe that is truly flesh-colored for all skin types, the shoe becomes a seamless extension of the leg. This has precedent in an old portrait of a member of the Beauvau family in Lorraine, attributed to the artist François Quesnel (1543-1619) that Christian Louboutin owns. To put together this series, Christian Louboutin contacted the duo of British artists Whitaker/Malem,

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whom he commissioned to make nine leather-clad sculptures in the nine colors of the Nudes collection.Whitaker/Malem are absolute masters of the art of leather cutting and stitching; they have specialized in this innovative sculptural technique since 1995. Louboutin also found their long collaboration with Allen Jones inspiring, and worked with them in detail on these skin sculptures.

5. IN THE WORKSHOPNever limited to the appearance of a finished object, a shoe is the result of nearly a hundred steps that all contribute to its design, and just as many actions that allow its production. More than ever, fashion is the preferred context for expressing the craft profes-sions, bringing together the age-old work of the hand and the use of technology, from the most traditio-nal to the most innovatory. A number of the objects here embody the creative process (feet, lasts, mate-rials, tools), while a series of short films allows the main stages of making a shoe to be seen clearly in action, each corresponding to a precise definition: “pattern-making,” “stitching,” etc.

6. SUGGESTIONS & PROJECTIONSAlready visible in the previous rooms, the explora-tion of the imaginary and the system of representation around the shoe continues in this room which, at first glance, seems a harmless salon worthy of a mischie-vous but conservative English granny. By arranging this interior as an interior designer would, Christian Louboutin plays with decorative art and ornamenta-tion: from a distance, relatively abstract motifs seem

to unravel, inspired by the floral or vegetal vocabulary or by a delicate calligraphy, and conveying a sense of joyful serenity. Seen up close, however the reality is quite different: each of these decorative elements is actually made up of combinations of transformed bodies by the photographer Pierre Molinier (1900–1976), who used to transform himself into a hyper-sexualized woman. This audacious “period room” shows how much the ideas we have about shoes are shaped by projections and suggestions that are often a long way from reality.When he presents his spikes - shoes covered with studs or inverted nails - Christian Louboutin indicates that the combination of leather and nails has always reminded him, above all else, of what art enthusiasts and histo-rians refer to as the “Haute Epoque”: the period from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the 17th century, that saw armour and leather-upholstered furniture embellished in such a manner. A style that only later came to hold very different connotations, suggestive of sexuality and domination, sadomasochism or referring to hard rock or heavy metal. For Louboutin, it is the historic decorative style that ser-ved as inspiration behind his creation and yet, it is clear in this room how fantasy and suggestion can transform the original inspiration to a multiplicity of meanings.

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7. BHUTANESE THEATERIn reference to his passion for Bhutan, Christian Louboutin evokes an important aspect of his work and his career here - his creations for the world of entertainment in all its forms - through a Bhutanese theater with gigantic carved wood columns. Christian Louboutin was inspired by the stage early on, a multi-faceted stage combining cinema and theater, cabaret and circus, and the world of sports stars and athletes, who, in our contemporary reality, embody the world of showbiz. This theater contains an installation with two origi-nal holograms, that of stripper and dancer Dita Von Teese, and football freestyler Iya Traoré. Two choreo-graphic and gymnastic (even athletic) evocations in which the presence of the shoe anchors the weight of the bodies and the flexibility of the movement in space. Christian Louboutin’s most iconic creations in the field of entertainment are exhibited in this same room, be they special commissions (Tina Turner, Michael Jackson) or pieces designed with a parti-cular style or personality in mind (Grand Rex, Lola Montès.).

8. UNE REVERIETo conjure up the high points of his life—the ones that also throw light on the stages of his professional career—Christian Louboutin has chosen to call upon the New Zealand artist Lisa Reihana, who is of Maori descent. He spotted her thanks to her video work at the 2017 Venice Biennale, where she had been entrus-ted with her native country’s pavilion, but also during the major exhibition Oceania, in London and Paris, with her seminal work in Pursuit of Venus [infected], in which the early-19th-century panoramic wallpapers of Joseph Dufour, titled Les Sauvages de la mer Pacifique (Savages of the Pacific Ocean), become a realm where her vision and reflections on identity and otherness are given free rein. With this new work, A Reverie, Reihana invites us on a stroll through a dreamworld amid shif-ting projections of works from Louboutin’s personal col-lection and the places that he loves.

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9. THE POP CORRIDORThe Pop Corridor is not an exhibition space, but a passageway between two worlds. Gathered here in no particular order are portraits of a dream family - Christian Louboutin’s - as well as of celebrities in music and cinema, and well-known friends. Each one tells a story, relates a moment, based around a shoe, or testifies to a musical or media-friendly memory. Images taken spontaneously, moments of universal and vibrant pop culture, funny anecdotes; here we find Naomi Campbell, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, the late Kobe Bryant and the divine Sridevi, stars of Bollywood and Hollywood. Magazine covers from all over the world, and extracts from television shows and music videos, each illustration in this Corridor - whether moving or stationary - is a reminder of how much Christian Louboutin’s work, having first drawn from popular culture, has inspired the creative talents of our time, making Louboutin’s name a familiar word in the contemporary vocabulary.

10. FETISHA collaboration between Christian Louboutin and film-maker and photographer David Lynch - first unveiled to the public in 2007 - this room is designed to redis-play the combination of a set of shoes not made for walking and the photographs taken by Lynch. The shoe becomes an exacerbated way of telling other stories, invoking the question of fetishism and sexuality. Several shoes designed in this way remind the visitor, through their staging and photographic illustration, that it is less the heel than the arch of the foot that is the object of fetishism and fantasy, and the line of the leg that naturally or artificially emerges from it. The series of exhibited shoes shows the various forms of fetishist attachment: soles made of a veil fabric that makes it impossible to walk and force their wearer, to lie or sit down, Siamese heels for symbiotic rela-tionships; heels with their spearing points on the inner sole making it impossible to wear the shoe, which become useless objects whose artistic value transforms them into a work of art or a sculpture.

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11. AN IMAGINARY MUSEUMThe “Imaginary Museum” is conceived as a tribute to the artists and art works that have been Christian Louboutin’s constant companions since his teenage years. This lei-surely stroll reminds us how much the Palais de la Porte Dorée affected him as a place of memory and ins-piration, when it was still the Museum of African and Oceanian Arts—the place where he experienced his first esthetic emotions, and that triggered future journeys. Curious about and receptive to all cultures, with no hie-rarchy or distinction, Christian Louboutin loves eclecti-

cism, which is something that has shaped his work for almost thirty years: here we find moments from fashion, the prism of painting, the iconic figures from his per-sonal pantheon and friends, queer culture, Gandharan art, contemporary African art, photography, a wealth of objets d’art, precious crosses, a Bhutanese royal crown, Wedgwood ceramics, numerous gems, folk art, verna-cular pottery, shells, and feathers. Christian Louboutin gives us the keys to this museum of subjective tastes, commenting on each of the works he has chosen, as if the inspirations thus became new starting points.

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Christian Louboutin creates shoes and accessories, as well as collections of makeup and perfume. His crea-tions, which are worn by musicians and film stars as well as by royalty and athletes, are inhabited with a flamboyant exoticism, combining limitless creativity with unique savoir-faire. Born in Paris, Christian Louboutin was already drawing shoes by the age of 12. As a teenager, he started as an intern at the Folies Bergères and then with Charles Jour-dan who, at the time, made the shoes for Maison Chris-tian Dior. He then became the personal assistant to the illustrious shoe designer Roger Vivier, a sculptor by trai-ning, who taught him the importance of a correct line and exceptional craftsmanship.

Once his collaboration with Roger Vivier came to an end, and after some time spent as a landscape desi-gner, Christian Louboutin opened his first shoe shop in the 1st district of Paris and founded at the same time, in 1991, the “Maison” that bears his name.

Inspired by the vision of a melancholic Princess Diana, standing alone in front of the Taj Mahal, Christian Lou-boutin decided to pay tribute to her and created a pair of slippers bearing the word LOVE, so that she would never forget how much she was cared for.

In 1992 the legendary shoe we all know today was born. Whilst working on a prototype, which differed from his original sketch, Christian Louboutin took his assistant’s nail polish and painted the sole of the shoe a vivid, lac-quered red. The prototype came to life and the iconic red sole, Christian Louboutin’s trademark, was born.

This spontaneous gesture is indicative of the way in which Christian Louboutin has built his “Maison”. Today, Christian Louboutin remains an independent “Maison”: this independence gives him the freedom to be spon-taneous and instinctive. Constantly alert and attentive to those around him, Christian Louboutin develops fas-cinating collaborations as a result of his travels, mee-tings and conversations. He has in this way worked with craftsmen in Bhutan, Senegal, India, and Mexico, and with artists including Dita von Teese, photographer David Lynch, and singer Mika, who inspired him to create his first men’s collection in 2009.

An insatiable traveller and an avid collector, Christian Louboutin surrounds himself with objects which feed his love of beauty and inspire his creativity. “Wherever I go, there is always a garden to see, a museum, a church, a market, a concert, a piece of architecture. My main way of being inspired is to stay open-minded. I try to go and look where others do not go”.

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Olivier Gabet, a specialist in decorative arts of the 19th century, and a former student of the Ecole nationale des Chartes and of the Ecole nationale du Patrimoine, began his career as a curator at the Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, responsible for its collection of furni-ture and objets d’art. In January 2005, he joined the Musée d’Orsay, where he was in charge of the collec-tions of decorative arts covering the period 1850-1900. He also organised the museum’s contemporary exhi-bition programme “Correspondances”: Brice Marden, Pierre et Gilles, Jeff Wall, Robert Mangold, Jannis Kou-nellis. In January 2008, he joined Agence France-Mu-séums, which was leading the Louvre Abu-Dhabi project, as curator in charge of the decorative arts. He then became deputy cultural director, and took part in the development of cultural projects and setting the acquisitions policy.

Olivier Gabet, who was appointed director of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs de Paris in September 2013, is res-ponsible for the collections of decorative arts, design, fashion, textiles, advertising and graphic art from the Middle Ages to the present day. He is also in charge of the collections of the Nissim de Camondo museum. His aim is to increase the national and international exposure of the institution through the enrichment and showcasing of the collections, which comprise more than 770,000 works, and through the exhibition pro-gramming. Since his arrival at the Arts Décoratifs, Oli-vier Gabet has curated several exhibitions, including Korea Now! (2015), Piero Fornasetti, la folie pratique (2015), L’Esprit du Bauhaus (2016), Christian Dior – couturier du rêve (2017) and Ten thousand years of Luxury at Louvre Abu Dhabi (2019). He has written a number of books, including Un marchand entre deux empires, Elie Fabius et le monde de l’art (2011) and Japonismes, which was published in 2014.

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IMRAN QURESHI Imran Qureshi (born in 1972, Hyderabad, Pakistan) lives and works in Lahore, Pakistan. Imran Qureshi reclaims the regionally rooted discipline of miniature painting that flourished in the Mughal courts of the late sixteenth century and transports it to the present day. Renowned for his site-specific ins-tallations, his work constitutes a unique synthesis of traditional motifs and techniques with current issues and the formal language of contemporary abstract painting. Leaves and nature represent the idea of life, whilst the color red (that appears at first glance like real blood) represents death. The red reminds Qureshi of the situation today in his country, Pakistan, and the world, where violence is almost a daily occurrence. Imran Qureshi participated in the Venice Biennale in the main show: The Encyclopedic Palace, curated by Massimiliano Gioni in 2013. The same year, he created a in-situ piece of art at the Metropolitan Museum: the Roof Garden Commission show. During the winter of

2014/15, Ikon Gallery in Birmingham presented a solo exhibition by Imran Qureshi, Deutsche Bank Artist of the Year 2013. Imran Qureshi’s work is present in permanent collections of major institutions inclu-ding The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. He is represented by Thaddeus Ropac Gallery and Corvi Mora Gallery.

SABYASACHI MUKHERJEESabyasachi Mukherjee is an Indian fashion designer (born in 1974, in India).He started his eponymous label with a workforce of three in 1999 in Kolkata, India. Sabyasachi’s design philosophy is very simple-personalized imperfection of the human hand. He believes that clothes should be an extension of one’s intellect. Deserts, gypsies, antique textiles and cultural traditions of his home-town- Kolkata have been a lifelong inspiration for him. He uses unusual fabrics, texturing and detailing, fusion of styles, patchworks with embellishments in a vibrant

ARTISTS AND CRAFTSPEOPLE IN THE EXHIBITION

BIOGRAPHIES

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colors. The designer draws his inspiration from art such as the colours capes of French impressionists like Monet and Henri Matisse in his clothes. He pioneered the use of Indian textiles in a modern context. The brand is renowned for dressing the top celebri-ties of India and for its appearance in many Bollywood productions. Between 2006 and 2009, the brand Sabyasachi presented several collections at New York Fashion Week. In addition, Sabyasachi started a pro-ject called Save the Saree where he retails hand-woven Indian sarees on a non-profit basis, where the entire benefit goes to the weavers of Murshidabad. This ini-tiative is also strongly supported by Bollywood stars.

LISA REIHANALisa Reihana (born in 1964, lives in New Zealand) Lisa Reihana is a multi-disciplinary artist whose prac-tice spans film, sculpture, costume and body adorn-ment, text and photography.Since the 1990s she has significantly influenced the development of contemporary art and contemporary Māori art in Aotearoa New Zealand. She has earned an outstanding reputation as an artist, producer and cultural interlocutor with her attention to the com-plexities of contemporary photographic and cinema languages expressed in myriad ways. Her ability to harness and manipulate seductively high production values is often expressed through portraiture where she explores how identity and history are represented, and the intersection of these ideas with concepts of place and community.Reihana represented New Zealand at the Venice Biennale in 2017 with the large-scale video installation “in Pursuit of Venus [infected]” (2015-17). The work

premiered at the Auckland Art Gallery in May 2015 and has since been shown around the world and garnered widespread critical acclaim. Her work has featured in important group exhibitions nationally and interna-tionally including Oceania, Royal Academy, London, England (2018); Suspended Histories, Museum Van Loon, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2013); and Paradise Now? Contemporary Art from the Pacific, Asia Society Museum, New York (2004).

WHITAKER MALEMWhitaker Malem (Patrick Whitaker & Keir Malem), are a duo of Designer Artisans - working for 30 years in the area of body-based design from their studio in North London. After meeting in 1986 Keir Malem assisted with Whitaker’s final Fashion degree show at Saint Martins School of art in 1987, after which they started their collaboration.Renowned for their leather creations, they have also created female leather covered sculptures with legen-dary Pop Artist Allen Jones. From their roots in fashion, their work quickly became visionary in the avant garde world of body-based art, craft and design. Their inte-rest in leather, as their material of choice stems from its versatility and its inherent skin like attributes. Their work can be found in permanent collections at a

CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN THE EXHIBITION[IST] PRESS KIT

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number of museums and institutions around the world including the Museum of Leathercraft.In 2017, their work has been exhibited at the Gallery Liverpool in Liverpool. They have worked extensively with Hollywood movies productions including 300, Batman’s iconic costume for The Dark Knight; & armour for Wonder Woman & the Amazonian warriors.

DAVID LYNCHDavid Lynch (born on January 29, 1946 in Missoula, United States) is an American filmmaker, photo-grapher, musician and painter. David Lynch tries his hand at cinema early on, conducting various experi-ments that result in “Eraserhead” in 1976, a nightma-rish movie shot in black and white. Both in his series and his films, he develops a very personal, surreal world where experimental cinema mingles with genre cinema, graphic art and innovative research, both in the drama and in the visuals (hypnotic images, disturbing soundtrack, taste for mystery, oddity and deformity…) Though some of his works have an

understandable storyline, others break the codes of linear and traditional cinematic storytelling. They are representative of the manner in which the filmmaker abandons his plot halfway and goes into a disrupted context where the actors seem to interpret different roles and where the sets have a new function.

In 1980, Mel Brooks decides to entrust Lynch with the directing of “Elephant Man.” The movie, shot in black and white, wins the Grand Prix at the Avoriaz Film Festival, and brings him great fame. Its suc-cess enables him to engage in a blockbuster produc-tion, “Dune” (1984), adapted from the work of Frank Herbert. He reconnects with the public with “Blue Velvet” (1986), an Avoriaz Film Festival Grand Prix. His next movie, “Wild at Heart” (1990) wins him the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. In addition to his many talents behind the camera, David Lynch is also an actor. He directs himself in the “Twin Peaks” series and movie.

MAISON DU VITRAIL La Maison du Vitrail (founded in 1973 in Paris) is a company specialized in the design and restoration of stained glass. La Maison du Vitrail is recognized for its work on the restoration of heritage and on monu-mental creations. Over time, it has developed its know-how thanks to the continuous innovation of the equipment used, with utmost respect for tradition. The Atelier holds the largest collection of antique glass in France today.

PALANQUIN ARTISANSVillarreal Orfebreria has been founded in 1964 in Sevilla, Spain.The Atelier is specialized in gold religious artwork and work especially on the religious Palanquins during cele-brations in Spain and Europe. In addition, Villarreal Orfebreria works on renovation of religious monu-ments, inter alia, Sevilla cathedral, and monuments in Rome, Brussels and Mexico.


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BLANCA LIBlanca Li (born in 1964, in Grenada, Spain) is chore-grapher, dancer, producer and interactive exhibit director. When it comes to performances, operas, music videos or movies, Blanca Li developed a very large range of project. From flamenco to classical dance, electro dance to hip hop, the dancer has always explored different styles and finds her inspiration in a wide spectrum of art form. The dancer is also inspired by her own Arabic and Andalusian origins and puts energy at the heart of her work.

Living in France since 1992, she presented one year later Nana and Lila at the Festival d’Avignon. Then, Salomé on Charles Koechlin music in 1995 featured at the Quartz theater in France and Le Songe du minotaure in 1998, a ballet inspired from antique Greece. In 1997, she participated in the production of the Around the World music video from French duo Daft Punk. In December 2015, she came back on the stage of the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées with Bolchoï ballerina Maria Alexandrova for Déesses & Démones.

TAREK SHAMMAAfter graduating from the Architectural Association in 2009 with Honors (AA Dipl Hons) Tarek Shamma has grown into one of the leading young archi-tects in the fashion design industry. Prior to fou-ding Tarek Shamma Design in 2015, he worked with the Architects Zaha Hadid and David Chipperfield. Competitions at Zaha Hadid included the Cordoba museum of art and the Seville university library that is currently under construction. At David Chipperfield, Tarek held leading positions at both the Café Royal Hotel and the London design team.

Tarek Shamma’s desig studio spans retail boutiques, Concept stores and private residences. Boutiques include Christian Louboutin in Madrid, Brussels, Munich and Luxembourg, the Tasoni flagship in Zurich, and Issas’ shop-in-shop, Tokyo. Private resi-dences range in design from soaring lateral spaces in New York, pied-à-terre in Paris, family dwellings in London and vacation homes on the red sea. His archi-tectural experimentation is underway with a Folly at the residence of Christian Louboutin in Portugal. Amongst the publications and exhibitions, his work has included digital architecture: passages through hinterlands by Ruairi Glynn and Sarah Shafiei and Takenaka Exhibition: best of Harvard, Colombia, AA and other leading international architectures schools in Tokyo AND Kyoto.

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Maquereau shoeChristian Louboutin’s first creation in 1987.Image taken in front of the Tropical Aquarium of the Palais de la Porte Dorée in 1988© Christian Louboutin

Maquereau shoe created by Christian Louboutin in 1987, in front of the Tropical Aquarium of the Palais de la Porte Dorée(Based on visual archives dating from 1988)© Christian Louboutin

THE PALAIS DE LA PORTE DORÉE AND ITS AQUARIUMCHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN’S SOURCES OF INSPIRATION

VISUALS AVAILABLE FOR PRESS



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Information panel and crucial drawing at the origin of Christian Louboutin’s vocation © Christian Louboutin

The Palais de la Porte Dorée© Pascal Lemaître

Forum frescos in the Palais de la Porte Dorée by Pierre-Henri Ducos de la Haille© Cyril Sancereau



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Princess Caroline of Monaco during the Bal de la Rose in 1995 © Sipa

CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTINA SINGULAR AND INSTRUMENTAL FIGURE IN THE FASHION WORLD

ADDITIONAL IMAGES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

« Pensées » shoeFall-Winter 1992-1993© Jean-Vincent Simonet



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Zendayawearing the iconic Pigalle shoes at ParisFashion Week, July 2019© Getty Images

« Pigalle » shoe © Jean-Vincent Simonet

Bella Hadid wearing shoes from the Nudes collection , Cannes 2019© Getty Images

Nudes collection « Degrastrass » shoes© Jean-Vincent Simonet



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© Jean-Vincent Simonet

CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN’S RICH UNIVERSEA MULTI-FACETED INSPIRATION SELECTION OF ICONIC PIECES




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A TRIBUTE TO ARTS AND CRAFTSCOLLABORATIONS WITH CRAFTSPEOPLE AS FOR THE EXHIBITION


Christian Louboutin and the Sabyasachi creative teamMumbai, 2019 © Macassar Productions

Christian Louboutin in Bhutan, 2019 © Macassar Productions

Stained glass windows in progressMaison du Vitrail, Paris© Macassar Productions



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CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN’S WORKSHOPTHE MAKING OF A SHOE


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THE IMAGINARY MUSEUMOF CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN

YSL x Claude Lalanne, 1969 ©Thierry Ollivier

«Wet Seal», Allen Jones, 1966© D.R.

La Vague Perpétuelle© Jean-Vincent Simonet



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PORTRAITSCHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN AT THE PALAIS DE LA PORTE DORÉE





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CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN. A CHILDHOOD IN THE 12TH ARRONDISSEMENT OF PARIS. NEAR PALAIS DE LA PORTE DORÉE

Christian Louboutin at the age of 14 leaving middle school © Bernard Faucon

Christian Louboutin at the age of 2, Avenue Daumesnil, Paris© Christian Louboutin



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CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN AND OLIVIER GABET AT THE MAISON DU VITRAIL





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PORTRAITS OF ARTISTS PRESENTED IN THE EXHIBITION


Imran Qureshi © D.R.

Sabyasachi Mukherjee© D.R.



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Lisa Reihana © D.R.

The designer duo Whitaker Malem © Frédéric Aranda

David Lynch© Getty Images



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The Palais de la Porte Dorée was built by Albert Laprade for the International Colonial Exhibition of 1931. It is located in the east of Paris, represents an exceptional Art Deco ensemble and is listed as an historic monument. As an official palace, loaded with symbols, its layout benefited from the input of great artists and craftsmen of the time: the sculptor Alfred Janniot, the painters Pierre-Henri Ducos de la Haille, Ivanna and André-Hubert Lemaître and Louis Bouquet, the interior designers Eugène Printz and Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann, the ironworkers Gilbert Poillerat and Raymond Subes. It houses the Musée national de l’histoire de l’immigration and the Tropical Aquarium.

WWW.PALAIS-PORTEDOREE.FR

THE PALAIS DE LA PORTE DORÉE

Christian Louboutin established his business in the heart of Paris in 1991, first with a collection for Women followed by a Men’s collection a few years later, both recognizable by the signature red lacquered sole. 2014 welcomed the launch of Christian Louboutin Beauté. With a prolific collection of women’s and men’s shoes, handbags and small leather goods, Christian Louboutin now counts more then 160 boutiques around the world.

THE MAISON CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN



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A personal portrait of Christian Louboutin by Éric Reinhardt, this book offers an exclu-sive glimpse into the designer’s myriad inspirations.

In this new book, the inimitable designer reveals the influences behind his shoes, his imagination, his culture. Drawing on his large interest for precious or unusual objects and artworks, readers uncover Louboutin’s vivid fascination for figures of the art, fashion and entertainment world, from Oscar Niemeyer to Yves Saint Laurent and Tina Turner.

A true look into the master’s references, exquisite original drawings and sketches of footwear by Christian Louboutin juxtapose against objects and artworks, attesting of the influences on his work. Pieces from prestigious international museums, private collections, and the designer’s residences have been per-sonally selected by Louboutin in tandem with Olivier Gabet, director of the musée des Arts décoratifs and curator of the exhibition.

The intense photographs of an exclusive shooting by Jean-Vincent Simonet bring the electric, sensual style of Louboutin’s dazzling creations to the pages. Writer Éric Reinhardt, artistic and editorial director of the publica-tion, signs a playfully erudite dialogue with the designer that runs through this veritable Wunderkammer of a book. Published on the occasion of the unprecedented Christian Louboutin Exhibition show at the Palais de la Porte-Dorée in Paris (February 26 – July 28, 2020), this exquisite piece of bookmaking offers a highly personal, vivid glimpse into the talent and genius of the man behind the acclaimed red soles.

BOOK

CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN THE EXHIBITION[IST]TEXTS BY ÉRIC REINHARDT FOREWORD BY OLIVIER GABET PHOTOGRAPHS BY JEAN-VINCENT SIMONET



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Through his books, writer Eric Reinhardt (born in 1965) explores the individual’s relationship to society and to his family and professional environment. He is particularly concerned by questions of domination, humiliation and hap-piness, which he handles with a certain humor and cruelty, and often resorts to satire to denounce the idiosyncra-sies of his time. An artist of the intimate and of the sensitive, he defines his books as spell-making machines: it is by sharing with the reader, from within, what his characters feel, and by keeping as close as possible to what they expe-rience, that, in his view, the knowledge of reality, of anger and of awareness are best conveyed, whether in the wor-king world, in marital harassment or in financial capitalism’s effects on our lives, as he has demonstrated in one book after another. In this respect, his work is both poetic and political.Eric Reinhardt was revealed to the general public in 2007 with his critically acclaimed, landmark novel, Cendrillon. Nominated twice for the Goncourt and Medici awards, namely for the controversial The Victoria System (Penguin Ran-dom House, 2014), Eric Reinhardt received the Roman des Etudiants France Culture Télérama award and the Renaudot des lycéens award for his best-seller L’amour et les forets (2014). A contemporary dance and performing arts enthu-siast, he has also written the libretto of an Angelin Preljocaj ballet for the Opéra Bastille, shot prima ballerina Marie-Agnès Gillot in a short film produced for the Opéra de Paris and written a play as well as an opera libretto.Eric Reinhardt has known Christian Louboutin since 2001. An art publisher, he was the writer and artistic director of an illustrated book published in 2011 by Rizzoli New York for the 20th anniversary of the Christian Louboutin fashion house. He is back in a publishing role again with a splendid exhibition catalog, which he has produced in close colla-boration with the inventor of red soles.

Jean-Vincent Simonet is a French photographer. He graduated from ECAL Lausanne in 2014 and was awarded the Swiss Design Awards in 2015, 2017 and 2018. His work has been exhibited at the FOAM in Amsterdam in 2015, the Tate Modern in London in 2016 and has been selected for the Festival International de Mode, de Photographie et d’Accessoires de Mode de la Villa Noailles in Hyères in 2019.

Rizzoli New York is a publishing house created 1974 and has become a leader in the fashion, interior design, culi-nary, art, architecture, and photography fields.



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In less than three decades, he took his shoes, with their invariably red soles to the top of the fashion empire. A num-ber of stars, from Kate Moss to Rihanna and Leonardo DiCaprio, collect them like jewellery. Through exclusive access to its creative process, this documentary aims to immerse the viewer in the world of Christian Louboutin on the eve of his first major exhibition in the Palais de la Porte Dorée, opening in February.

A DOCUMENTARY BY OLIVIER GAROUSTE (France - 2019, 52MN) COPRODUCTION: ARTE GEIE, MACASSAR PRODUCTIONS, UPSIDE

Broadcasting on ARTE on Friday the 13th of March at 10:20 p.m. Available in video on demand for 30 days.

DOCUMENTARY SUR LES PAS DE CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN



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Nordstrom, Inc. is a leading fashion retailer based in the U.S. Founded in 1901 as a shoe store in Seattle, today Nordstrom operates 380 stores in 40 states, including 119 full-line stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico; 247 Nordstrom Rack stores; three Jeffrey boutiques; two clearance stores; six Trunk Club clubhouses; and three Nordstrom Local service concepts. Additionally, customers are served online through Nordstrom.com, Nordstromrack.com, HauteLook and TrunkClub.com. Nordstrom, Inc.’s common stock is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol JWN.

MAIN SPONSOR OF THE EXHIBITION


PALAIS DE LA PORTE DORÉEMUSÉE NATIONAL DE L’HISTOIRE DE L’IMMIGRATION | AQUARIUM TROPICAL293 avenue Daumesnil - 75012 Paris | www.palais-portedoree.fr


PALAIS DE LA PORTE DORÉEPierre Laporte CommunicationSamira Chabri, Alice Delacharlery, Laurent Jourdren,T. +33 1 45 23 14 14E. [email protected]

MAISON CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTINBRUNSWICK ARTSAnnabelle Türkis, Afonso OlivieraT. +33 6 11 22 37 94 - +33 7 78 30 14 31E. [email protected]

ARTISTIC DIRECTIONChristian Louboutin

EXHIBITION CURATOROlivier Gabet

PRODUCTIONBureau Betak

MEDIA PARTNERS

CONCEPTION

ACCÈSMétro - Tramway - Bus - Porte DoréeLes personnes à mobilité réduite accèdent au Palais par le 293, avenue Daumesnil, 75012 Paris.

www.palais-portedoree.fr

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

PRESS CONTACTS

Documents

CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN - Palais de la Porte Dorée...4 From 26 February 2020, the Palais de la Porte Dorée presents a major exhibition devoted to the work and creativity of Christian