VESTED INTEREST: Printemps is celebrating the jacket with a new exhibition taking place under the stained glass cupola of its flagship on Boulevard Haussmann in Paris.
Titled “Vestologie,” the show runs until Oct. 13 and features designs from brands such as Dior, Rabanne, McQueen, Balenciaga and Jean Paul Gaultier, alongside documents including vintage suit catalogs from the retailer’s Brummell menswear brand and designs by students from Esmod International’s schools in France.
Curators Sylvie Marot and Marlène Van de Casteele wanted the exhibit to be educational and profound, but still easy to digest.
“We tried to figure out, how to make sure both that museum people don’t dismiss it, and shoppers don’t find it confusing?” said Marot. “We set out to do something for the general public, the way museums were originally intended. It’s designed to be enjoyed by a 3-year-old and a senior alike.”
Divided into eight alcoves with titles such as “Uniform/Informal,” “Fitted/Oversized” or “Leisure Class/Working Class,” the 5,920-square-foot space showcases designs ranging from Dior’s signature Bar jacket to a battered Schott biker jacket and a classic black Saint Laurent tuxedo.
Marot’s favorite is a puff-sleeved, corseted style from Dries Van Noten’s spring 2017 collection. It trades the Belgian designer’s signature floral prints for an ecru canvas that resembles the cotton muslin toile used by tailoring workshops to make test garments.
“I find it particularly beautiful because I love Victorian blouses and because technically, it’s incredible. It’s both very simple and highly complex, so if I had to wear one tonight, it would be that one,” confessed the curator, who heads the new art, culture and heritage department at Esmod that loaned several of the jackets on display.
A vintage suit catalog from Printemps’ historic menswear brand Brummell.
Courtesy of Printemps
A workshop section seeks to highlight the technical skills required to build a jacket. Taking pride of place at the entrance is a toile by Nathan Vandenberghe, a bachelor student at Esmod Paris who won a competition organized by the department store.
When the idea of involving students came up, Esmod International’s chief operating officer Véronique Beaumont said she couldn’t pass it up in light of the parallels between Printemps and Esmod, in terms of presence in France and internationally.
Plus, it offered a face-to-face with consumers, a much-needed experience for future industry professionals. “What is often missing from fashion schools is interaction with commercial reality and also the realities of industrialization,” the school executive said.
The exhibition aims to mirror the sociological changes symbolized by jackets, including their role in women’s emancipation, said Stéphane Roth, chief marketing and communication officer at Printemps. “All sorts of messages intersect, from political messages to social messages, from beauty to practicality,” he said.
He noted it was the first exhibition staged by Printemps since the late 1980s. “I really wanted this historic cupola dating from 1920 — which survived the bombing of World War II and which we renovated in 2015 — to be a gathering place, the way it was initially conceived by the founders of Printemps,” Roth explained.
In tandem with the exhibit, Courrèges is offering a selection of exclusive products in a pop-up space in the basement atrium of the department store, which will remain open until Oct. 20.
The “Vestologie” exhibition at Printemps.
Lucas Soubigou-Marie/Courtesy of Printemps