Maison Chloé in Paris. Courtesy of Chloé
Chloé has just unveiled a new public space in Paris, where the luxury French brand will showcase temporary and permanent exhibitions and events celebrating its 65-year history. Maison Chloé, as the space is called, is housed in an intimate five-story building next to the Chloé headquarters. The first exhibition is a selection of more than 100 images from pioneering photographer Guy Bourdin, who shot campaigns and editorials for the House between 1956 and 1986 and was its most important visual collaborator. His images have a cinematic quality to them, and often blur the line between absurdity and reality.
The Guy Bourdin exhibition at Maison Chloé. Photograph by François Goize, courtesy of Chloé
For this exhibition, curator Judith Clark – who has worked on more than 40 fashion exhibitions and is professor of fashion and museology at London College of Fashion – introduced a new take on Bourdin. By featuring previously unseen images and clothing from the archive, visitors are taken on a storytelling journey. “I love the fact that in one room you will be able to explore the archival pieces,” Clark says, “then those objects are reimagined in the exhibition next door, leading to a gallery of extraordinary prints upstairs. The Chloé dress comes in and out of the story and the building itself begins to feel as though it’s experienced via Guy Bourdin’s distorting eye.”
Guy Bourdin, Paris Vogue 1956, Chloé Spring/Summer 1956 collection ©The Guy Bourdin Estate, 2017 / Courtesy A + C
Guy Bourdin, Paris Vogue 1970, Chloé Spring/Summer 1970 collection ©The Guy Bourdin Estate, 2017 / Courtesy A + C
Maison Chloé celebrates the House’s 65-year history
A permanent exhibition will trace the history of the maison through its creative directors, among them founder Gaby Aghion, Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, Phoebe Philo, Hannah MacGibbon, and Clare Waight Keller, who left earlier this year. Clark’s interactive showcase layers Aghion’s work and personal possessions with the designs of the creative directors who followed her: a photograph of Aghion jumping in Egyptian sand dunes is showcased with Stella McCartney’s famous pineapple print swimsuit.
“Feminities – Guy Bourdin” runs from until September 3, and again from October 18 to November 18, at Maison Chloé, 28 Re de la Baume, Paris. Tickets are available from Chloe.com.
