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CURATED LUXURY LIFESTYLE FASHION ART and WELLNESS magazine NYC curating good vibes by BRIGITTE SEGURA

CELEBRATING style: Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche 160th Anniversary

The Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche 160th  Anniversary uncovers design and innovation at its finest. Kicking off September 24th through December 31st, you too can join the celebration by owning one of 600 designs inspired by the store’s history. Catherine Deneuve will host the event’s opening on the beginning of Paris Fashion Week-uniting French icons in a fresh way. During the 3-month long festivities, each department will have eye-catching exhibitions (stretching over 1000m2 !) expressing the past for an enticing result. To continue adapting tradition, 160 brands were selected to chronicle the anniversary such as Jean Paul Gaultier, Diane Von Furstenberg, Isabel Marant, Ann Demeulemeester, Nicholas Kirkwood, Comme Des Garçons, Fendi, Maison Martin Margiela, and Tory Burch. The 160th anniversary fuses a variety of art forms into lifestyle and fashion  to fashion for a seamlessly stunning result.

Numerous collaborations and adaptations were all inspired by Le Bon Marche’s in-house archives. Celebrate in style thanks to several designers who’ve combined their own hits with the shop’s own. Diane Von Furstenberg gave her iconic wrapdress a limited edition GEO BM printed silk patternand Tory Burch created palm-tree printed ballet flats. Hit the streets with ankle boots in extravagant lace and calfskin suede from Nicholas Kirkwood, and in sleek leather booties and sneaks with silver leaf from Maison Martin Margiela. Everyday basics brings history in an understated way, such as a dark, feather-adorned blazer by Ann Demeulemeester and a Fendi Swarovski “Baguette” bag embroidered with canottiglie- just like the escalators of Bon Marché.  [click images in gallery below for full view of details].

Smart, whimsical, yet sentimental, is the attitude of an A.P.C. denim bag and also several shirts, like the striped Jean Paul Gauliter BM version, the soft pink of Isabel Marant, and ruby red polka-dots of Comme Des Garçons-all emblazoned with the store’s moniker. The styling group of Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche have updated their classics, inspiring several own-brand items. Also pieces such as a Dypitque perfume candle, the Benjoin exclusive, Balthazar Pour L’Homme cologne, and a Native Union Technopop handset to use with mobile phones and tablets will standout in any room. Catapulting the department store format that many shoppers rely on today, founder Aristotle Boucicaut was ahead of the curve. In 1852, he broke the mold of traditional shopping to get ultrachic women out of their homes and into the store’s lively atmosphere, with singing employees too! Boucicaut pushed forward shopping standards such as dubbing January white month for the French (“le mois du blanc”), while emphasizing Parisian chic and ease that influenced Prêt-à-Porter. The French [first] department store also provided catalogues, delivery systems, fixed prices and sales- simple shopping elements that we take for granted nowadays. The Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche 160th  Anniversary shows us that in order to look forward, it’s so good to look back too.  Story: Brigitte Segura, Written by Mary Anderson.

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