Neither shouldered jackets nor grained leather bags: at Saint Laurent Babylone, a Parisian boutique opened at the beginning of February on rue de Grenelle, in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district, customers looking for ready-to-wear or accessories The scratched ones will come out disappointed. The glazed space, gray and industrial, was designed as the “cultural destination” of the brand with a turnover of 3.2 billion euros in 2023. In addition to ten thousand vinyl records – Marvin Gaye, Kraftwerk, Kim Wilde, Serge Gainsbourg… – you can find cutting-edge magazines, a few photographic prints, chocolates François Daubinet. And also a whole selection of art books to buy or leaf through (wearing gloves when they are old) on site, ranging from around forty to 12,000 euros, for the rarities.
Works devoted to high-flying painters (Matisse, Ed Ruscha, Andy Warhol) or somewhat monomaniacal photographers (Tom Bianchi, Larry Clark, Erwin Olaf), themes that have never gone out of fashion (New York by Helen Levitt, the effervescence of 1980s by Philippe Morillon…). Not a piece of clothing on the horizon and, yet, “everything is very Saint Laurent”, we are told during the visit. In addition to its function as a chic bookstore, the selection of which is ensured by Anthony Vaccarello, artistic director of the house since 2016, Saint Laurent Babylone will host signings. Photographer Juergen Teller and model Linda Evangelista opened the show on February 28 and 29.
Books and fashion? The romance has been going on for a while. Designers and their teams raid libraries to find inspiration (from Jack Kerouac at Dior Men, in 2021, to Hanya Yanagihara at Valentino this season), propel authors to the head of advertising gondolas (such as Joan Didion posing for Celine in 2015 ) or take places symbolizing culture and knowledge as a setting (like the National Library of France, where Kenzo organized a fashion show in mid-January).
Touch and long time
Over the last three years, the houses of Dior and Chanel have also begun to provide literary advice and promote the creation of writings: the first in the form of videos in which its ambassadors detail their favorites or even in s associating women with the Paris festival whose short plays are the subject, after having been performed on stage, of a collection published by L’Avant-scène Théâtre. The second by inviting, as part of the Rendez-vous littéraires rue Cambon, the cream of contemporary novelists (Marie NDiaye, Léonora Miano, Camille Laurens, etc.) for erudite conversations moderated by Charlotte Casiraghi.
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