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Dior fashion exhibition in Paris breaks 112-year record

More than 700,000 people flocked to a record-breaking Paris exhibition dedicated to the French fashion house Christian Dior, its organisers said Monday.

Published: 8 January 2018 17:05 CET
Dior fashion exhibition in Paris breaks 112-year record
Photo: AFP
The six-month-long show which ended on Sunday was the most popular ever held at the city's Museum of Decorative Arts, with visitors queuing for an average of four hours to see some of the luxury brand's most iconic designs.
   
“Christian Dior, couturier du reve” (roughly translated as “Christian Dior, Designer of Dreams”) was organised to mark the label's 70th anniversary, and told the story of the brand through some 300 of its haute couture dresses worn by stars from Marlene Dietrich to Rihanna.
   
The museum's director David Cameo told AFP that the turn-out was “an absolute record”, the highest for a single show in its 112-year history.
   
It also attracted a string of Hollywood stars and top models — who were spared the queues — including Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattinson and Bella Hadid, some of whom are ambassadors for the brand.
   
But not everyone was happy with the show. The French magazine Marianne lambasted the venerable institution, which is next to the Louvre museum, for selling out.
 
Photo: AFP
 
Museum as 'shop window'
 
Writer Agnes Poirier accused the museum of becoming a “shop window for commercial brands… under the cover of art”, and also criticised its earlier link-up with toymaker Mattel for another hugely popular show on the Barbie doll.
   
However, Cameo told AFP that the huge attendance had been a financial boon for the museum, helping it to notch up a large surplus that would “help us re-equip and pay for an overhaul of our restoration studios”.
   
An retrospective of American fashion designer Marc Jacobs' work attracted more than 200,000 visitors to the museum in 2012, which was then a record for the publicly-funded institution.
   
It is hoping to follow up its success with Dior with another fashion-themed show in March, tracing the enigmatic and mysterious Belgian-born designer Martin Margiela's years at Hermes.
   
It will be one of two spring exhibitions in the French capital dedicated to the creator, with a retrospective of his work due to open at the Palais Galliera fashion museum also in March.
   
Despite breaking records, the Dior show was far from being the most popular Paris art show of 2017.
   
That title is held by the “Icons of Modern Art” exhibition at the Louis Vuitton Foundation, which drew 1.2 million people.
   
It featured the cream of the staggering collection of 250 paintings put together by collector Sergei Shchukin before the Bolshevik Revolution, which had never before been seen outside Russia.

PARIS

Fluffy nuisance: Outcry as Paris sends Invalides rabbits into exile

Efforts to relocate wild rabbits that are a common sight on the lawns of the historic Invalides memorial complex have provoked criticism from animal rights groups.

Published: 14 February 2024 13:01 CET
Fluffy nuisance: Outcry as Paris sends Invalides rabbits into exile

Tourists and Parisians have long been accustomed to the sight of wild rabbits frolicking around the lawns of Les Invalides, one of the French capital’s great landmarks.

But efforts are underway to relocate the fluffy animals, accused of damaging the gardens and drains around the giant edifice that houses Napoleon’s tomb, authorities said.

Police said that several dozen bunnies had been captured since late January and relocated to the private estate of Breau in the Seine-et-Marne region outside Paris, a move that has prompted an outcry from animal rights activists.

“Two operations have taken place since 25 January,” the police prefecture told AFP.

“Twenty-four healthy rabbits were captured on each occasion and released after vaccination” in Seine-et-Marne, the prefecture said.

Six more operations are scheduled to take place in the coming weeks.

Around 300 wild rabbits live around Les Invalides, according to estimates.

“The overpopulation on the site is leading to deteriorating living conditions and health risks,” the prefecture said.

Authorities estimate the cost of restoring the site, which has been damaged by the proliferation of underground galleries and the deterioration of gardens, pipes and flora, at €366,000.

Animal rights groups denounced the operation.

The Paris Animaux Zoopolis group said the rabbits were being subjected to “intense stress” or could be killed “under the guise of relocation”.

“A number of rabbits will die during capture and potentially during transport,” said the group, accusing authorities of being “opaque” about their methods.

The animal rights group also noted that Breau was home to the headquarters of the Seine-et-Marne hunting federation.

The police prefecture insisted that the animals would not be hunted.

In 2021, authorities classified the rabbits living in Paris as a nuisance but the order was reversed following an outcry from animal groups who have been pushing for a peaceful cohabitation with the animals.

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